Micky van de Ven firmly believes that much-maligned Liverpool ace is ‘an all-round top player’ | OneFootball

Micky van de Ven has insisted that one Liverpool player who’s come in for plenty of criticism this season is still a ‘different level’ footballer.

The Reds managed to pull off the long-awaited signing of Alexander Isak from Newcastle on transfer deadline day for a club-record £125m fee, but the Swedish striker has netted just twice in his first 15 appearances for Arne Slot’s side.

The 26-year-old has duly been in the firing line over his performances at Anfield, with BBC Sport’s Aadam Patel opining that our number 9 has ‘struggled’ in terms of ‘physicality and intensity’, while Sky Sports’ Laura Hunter described his display against Nottingham Forest last month as ‘completely anonymous‘.

Van de Ven praises ‘top player’ Isak

Despite Isak’s underwhelming scoring return for Liverpool so far, Van de Ven knows from experience just how lethal the Sweden international can be.

Speaking on The Overlap ahead of facing the Reds on Saturday, the Tottenham Hotspur defender said: “[In the 2023/24] season, we played against Newcastle in the game we lost and I slipped. Alexander Isak was different level.

“At this point, I knew he was a top player. I always knew he was good, but this game was when I saw it firsthand. His movement, he’s technical, he’s fast and he’s a top finisher, and he’s just an all-round top player.”

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Van de Ven knows just how good Isak can be

The goal that Van de Ven referenced came in a 4-0 defeat for Spurs at Newcastle in April 2024, when Isak opened the scoring that afternoon as he cut inside the Dutch defender – who duly lost his balance – and finished to the net.

It was exactly the kind of finish we’d become accustomed to seeing from the Swedish marksman in the Premier League, but unfortunately haven’t seen all that often in a Liverpool shirt so far.

The 26-year-old hasn’t been helped by persistent fitness problems since his move from St James’ Park, having not had a proper-season when he came to Anfield and then enduring a couple of minor injuries, such as the knock which prompted Slot to restrict him to just 12 minute off the bench against Brighton on Saturday.

Isak has had a fantastic track record when facing Spurs – his six goals against the north Londoners is the joint-most he’s netted versus any club in his career, failing to get on the scoresheet in only one of his five meetings against them so far (Transfermarkt).

Van de Ven will be desperate for Liverpool’s number 9 not to add to that record at the weekend, and while the season so far hasn’t been kind to the Swede, the Dutch defender knows just how deadly the £125m can be when he’s at his best.

Hopefully that’s the version of Isak we’ll soon get to see in a red shirt.

You can watch Slot’s full post-Brighton press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: