John Aldridge says there’s one thing Arne Slot must do this week to help Alexander Isak | OneFootball

John Aldridge has offered a suggestion to Arne Slot on how he can help to get Alexander Isak closer to proper match fitness in the coming days.

In the past fortnight, the Swedish striker has returned from a four-month layoff with a broken leg and (to Jamie Carragher’s surprise) started for the second time in a week in the Merseyside derby on Sunday.

However, an ineffective performance resulted in his withdrawal for Rio Ngumoha with just under 20 minutes of normal time remaining, at which point Liverpool were drawing 1-1 against Everton.

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Aldridge: A practice match could benefit Isak greatly

In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge advised Slot to arrange a behind-closed-doors friendly this week in order to build up Isak’s match sharpness, believing it to be much more effective than individual and team training.

The former Reds striker wrote: ‘Alexander Isak started for Liverpool [on Sunday], but if I’m honest, he is miles off the pace. Liverpool should arrange a behind-closed-doors friendly in the week.

‘When I was manager of Tranmere Rovers, Liverpool wanted to have a look at Rigobert Song and I got a phone call from Gerard Houllier. Tranmere played on the Tuesday night and I got the team to go down to Melwood on the Wednesdsay, so they could have a look at Song.’

Aldridge continued: ‘Just give him a 90-minute match because he is miles off match fitness. There’s fitness and there’s match fitness. They’re two different things. You can run all day and be strong but if you’re not match-fit, you are so rusty.

‘I think at the moment he is better coming on in games rather than starting them in the Premier League while he is not match-fit. The manager should get on the phone today and organise 90 minutes for him to try and get to the required level.’

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Isak needs time on the pitch to get back to full sharpness

Aldridge’s suggestion makes total sense – the only way that Isak will get back to the sharpness that he showed at Newcastle last season is by obtaining as much game-time as possible, even if it’s in a friendly fixture.

The dilemma for Slot is that the 26-year-old needs to be out on the pitch in order to revive his fitness levels, but in the games against Paris Saint-Germain and Everton he looked worryingly rusty, something that many commentators observed during the Merseyside derby win.

He played 72 minutes at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Sunday but, as evidenced by the figures below from Sofascore, his impact in the match was nonexistent.

A practice game in midweek could be hugely beneficial for Isak, but whether Slot can organise one at such short notice at a critical stage of the season in which managers won’t want to risk injuries to their players is another question.

The Swedish marksman will naturally need a bit more time to properly get back up to speed, but the concern is that, since his comeback earlier this month, there are no discernible signs of that happening any time soon.