For a £125m signing, Alexander Isak has not been given the kind of runway that usually helps a marquee forward settle. That, at least, is the thrust of Dwight Yorke’s criticism of Liverpool’s handling of the striker, with the former Premier League star arguing that rotation and uncertainty have made life harder than it needed to be.
Liverpool secured the deal 11 months ago, but the move has not yet produced the clean, uninterrupted spell the club would have wanted. Isak suffered a broken leg against Tottenham Hotspur in December and then spent more than three months out before returning and struggling to get back up to speed. Yorke’s view is that the combination of injury and selection shuffling has left him in an awkward position.
“Alexander Isak has been in a difficult situation,” Yorke said. “It’s always the same. After major injuries you’ve never quite the same and he hasn’t looked anywhere near to the player I loved at Newcastle.”
Why Yorke thinks the problem goes beyond form
The deeper concern, according to Yorke, is not simply that Isak has looked below his best. It is that Liverpool have not created the kind of stability a striker needs, especially after a serious injury. Yorke pointed to Arne Slot’s rotation of Isak with Hugo Ekitike and said that kind of arrangement can chip away at confidence.
“When Ekitike was keeping Isak out of the team, you’re not feeling like you’re worth £120m and that’s when the doubts start to kick in,” Yorke said. “And you’ve got the previous manager messing you around and not playing you, chopping and changing every few seconds.”
That is a pointed criticism, but it also fits a familiar football truth: strikers often need clarity as much as they need service. Yorke’s argument is that if the manager is constantly alternating between options, the player never quite knows where he stands. For a forward arriving with heavyweight expectations, that can become a problem quickly.
The message a striker wants
Yorke framed the issue as much in psychological terms as tactical ones. In his view, the best way to handle a centre-forward is to give him certainty and responsibility, not ambiguity.
“If you’re a striker, you want to be told you’re the number one, and if you’re not getting that message from the manager, then you’ve got a long season ahead of you,” he said. “Obviously, you've got to earn the right to play and say I’m the number one, but there’s nothing better than hearing that from the manager to say you are my guy.”
That does not mean Isak cannot recover his best level. It does mean Liverpool have made his path more complicated than it needed to be, at least in Yorke’s eyes. The broader issue is whether a player who arrived with huge expectations can regain rhythm if his minutes remain unstable and his fitness history keeps hanging over him.
There is also a wider managerial subplot. Yorke said it will be interesting to see how Isak gets on under the new manager, Andoni Iraola, and how he sees the team. He also said Iraola is the new manager to watch, which pushes this beyond one player’s form and into a bigger question about what comes next for Liverpool’s attacking structure.
For now, the story around Alexander Isak is less about one bad spell than about whether Liverpool have set him up to succeed. A record-fee forward can absorb pressure, but even elite strikers need a clear role, consistent selection and a manager who makes them feel central. Yorke’s warning is that Isak has not had enough of that yet.
