John Aldridge explains what Isak ‘needs first and foremost’ after early frustration at Liverpool | OneFootball

The first two-and-a-half months of Alexander Isak’s Liverpool career haven’t quite gone as he would’ve wanted.

Having had to be slowly integrated into Arne Slot’s side after missing out on a proper pre-season when he was seeking to leave Newcastle, the 26-year-old had his momentum interrupted by a groin injury which ruled him out of the Reds’ last five matches.

He made his comeback off the bench in Sweden’s 4-1 defeat to Switzerland on Saturday, although he subsequently admitted that his fitness ‘hasn’t been optimal’ over the past few weeks.

Aldridge hoping Isak will get ‘minutes in the bank’

In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, John Aldridge outlined his wish for Isak to be given the full 90 minutes of his country’s World Cup qualifier against Slovenia tonight, even with nothing riding on the game for either side.

The former Reds striker wrote: ‘After returning to action over the weekend, you’d like to think the next step for Alexander Isak in his comeback is to get 90 minutes for Sweden against Slovenia on Tuesday night. That is the thing he needs first and foremost now: minutes in the bank.

‘It feels like we have been saying the same thing over the last three international breaks for the Liverpool striker but hopefully he can get some significant time on the pitch that will help him when he returns to club level.’

Aldridge added: ‘If he gets some decent time on the pitch to build on his half an hour or so against Switzerland on Saturday night, that can be considered a good step forward for Isak and then, hopefully, he can return on the right foot in time for that Nottingham Forest game this weekend.’

(Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

Isak now needs as much game-time as possible

Ordinarily we’d be praying for a Liverpool player to be given the night off for an international fixture of no significant consequence, but as the columnist outlined, Isak needs the game-time to build up his fitness, so it should be to the Reds’ benefit if he plays tonight.

It’s now been four weeks since his last involvement for his club, which came in the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on the night that he went off injured, and he’ll now be coming back to an unrelenting four-month period without any further breaks for national team action.

Ideally Graham Potter will select the 26-year-old to start against Slovenia and, even if he doesn’t get the full 90 minutes, he’ll hopefully play for long enough to be primed for selection against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Isak won’t be able to repay his £125m transfer fee from the substitutes’ bench or the treatment room – Liverpool need to get him onto the pitch and up to speed for the hard winter slog.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Man City press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: