Alexander Isak is facing one of the most difficult spells of his career, yet there are still strong voices in football who believe he will come through it and become a major figure for Liverpool.
Despite a slow, frustrating and often painful start to life at Anfield, Steven Gerrard insists the Swedish striker has the talent to become an important long-term player.
The Liverpool legend says he feels genuinely sorry for Isak and believes the club have not yet managed to get the best out of him in the way Newcastle United did under Eddie Howe.
Isak arrived at Liverpool in the summer for a huge British-record fee, a move that came with massive expectations and enormous pressure. But things have not gone according to plan.
In his 10 appearances so far, he has found the net only once, and that came in the Carabao Cup against Southampton two months ago. Since then, his form has dipped, and his confidence has suffered.
Many have pointed to the complicated end to his Newcastle United spell, when he reportedly pushed for a transfer and disrupted his pre-season rhythm, leaving him without a proper foundation in terms of fitness and consistency.
Gerrard, speaking after Liverpool’s heavy Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven, said Isak currently looks “rusty”, especially when compared to his sharp and dangerous form at Newcastle.
But he does not believe the story ends here. Instead, he argued that the striker simply needs regular minutes, patience and the right support. He insisted that Isak has all the qualities to make a major impact once he fully adapts to his new environment.
Gerrard highlighted the recent Nottingham Forest match as a perfect example of why Isak needs time rather than judgment. He noted that the striker barely had any space to work with and was starved of service for the full 90 minutes.
Despite that, Isak still worked extremely hard, showing commitment and effort that Gerrard felt went unnoticed. He added that no striker in the world can instantly turn on world-class form after missing games through injury or after starting a season with disrupted preparation. In his view, the forward simply needs rhythm, match sharpness and trust.
He also believes that Isak will eventually score the kind of spectacular “worldie” goal that sparks his season back to life.
According to Gerrard, every big striker goes through a moment when things suddenly fall into place, and he is confident that such a moment is coming for the Swedish international. Once that happens, he thinks Isak will settle properly into life at Liverpool and begin to repay the club’s immense faith in him.
However, not everything was positive. Isak’s performance against PSV reminded everyone how far he still has to go. After being introduced early in the second half following an injury to Hugo Ekitike, he struggled to make any impact at all.
He touched the ball only 12 times, and for large stretches of the match he was completely disconnected from the play. It was a night that underlined how much adjustment and rebuilding he still needs.
Gerrard went even further by suggesting that Liverpool might need to dip into the January transfer market. Despite spending around £450 million in the summer, he believes the squad still lacks balance in certain areas, and that Isak would benefit from more support and more creativity around him.
He argued that a couple of smart signings could help restore consistency and give the team the extra 10 or 15 percent it needs to play at a high level every week.
He also pointed out that the season has been disrupted by three early international breaks, something that has made it harder for players like Isak to build momentum.
Minor injuries have contributed too, interrupting his training rhythm and making it difficult for him to find a smooth path into the starting lineup.
Despite all this, Gerrard’s message was clear: patience. He believes Isak will eventually become a major success at Liverpool, and that once he reaches full fitness and confidence, he will show the ability and instinct that once made him one of the Premier League’s most exciting strikers at Newcastle. The question now is how long the process will take, and whether Liverpool will give him the stability he needs to reach that level again.
