Alexander Isak Under Pressure at Liverpool After Newcastle Performance

Alexander Isak has reached the stage where sympathy runs out and the questions start to sting. That is the going rate for a £125m striker. At Liverpool, it is even harsher. Centre-forwards are measured in goals and impact, not caveats.

So when Michael Owen watched Liverpool’s trip to St James’ Park and then went on talkSPORT, his verdict cut straight through the noise.

“I know how hard it is to get back and you do need time. He has been given plenty of time – he finished the season in the team, then went to the World Cup and has had a pre-season.

“Now he is starting to run out of excuses. We need to see the real Isak. We saw how good he can be at Newcastle, but we haven't seen it in a red shirt yet. Questions will come now. At the start of the season, there are expectations, and Liverpool need him. [Mo] Salah has gone, [Hugo] Ekitike is out, and he needs to deliver. Against Newcastle, he was a yard off it, and that is worrying. He is the big-money signing, and I can't say he played well because he didn't.”

Blunt. But this is the top end of the game. No one is going to tiptoe around a misfiring £125m No 9.

Isak’s first season at Anfield came with a built-in defence. A broken leg that removed four months from his year changed everything. Timing evaporates, rhythm disappears, confidence dips. For a while, that context shields you.

That “for a while” has just about expired.

Return to St James’ Park lays it bare

His first game back at St James’ Park was always going to feel loaded. The jeers, the hostility, the sense of betrayal from the home crowd – all of it entirely predictable. None of it will feature in the internal review at Liverpool.

What will is the performance.

Isak stayed on for the full 90 minutes but never truly bent the game to his will. There were stretches when Liverpool’s supply line into him was thin and scrappy, and that has to be acknowledged. A striker cannot bury chances that never arrive.

But the best No 9s don’t just wait for service. They demand it. They pin centre-backs, create panic, open lanes for others, and then punish the one clear opening that falls their way.

Isak didn’t do enough of that.

He registered a couple of efforts on target and held his own physically in duels, yet the overall impression was of a forward half a beat off. His passing was loose. His movement lacked edge. The threat level never rose to what Liverpool need from the man leading their line.

This wasn’t a disaster. It was something worse for a striker in his position: forgettable.

Liverpool can’t afford mitigation anymore

The real tension sits in the wider picture. Liverpool’s margin for error has shrunk.

Hugo Ekitike is out until the end of 2026. Mohamed Salah has gone. Between them, that’s a huge chunk of guaranteed goals and the kind of gravity that bends defences out of shape. Under Andoni Iraola, Liverpool will play on the front foot, pressing hard and attacking quickly, but the system only frames the chances. Someone has to finish them.

Isak has already shown he can do that. His record at Newcastle – 62 goals in 109 games – is not up for debate. The talent is not on trial.

The timeline is.

He is 26 now, firmly in his prime, well beyond the “developing prospect” tag. Liverpool did not spend £125m on potential. They paid that fee for a striker ready to decide games from day one. At some point, the price becomes part of the judgment because it reflects the responsibility attached to him.

That point has arrived.

Nottingham Forest becomes an early-season marker

On paper, Nottingham Forest at Anfield should be a routine early-season fixture. Instead, it has turned into a checkpoint.

When a marquee signing underperforms in a high-profile game, the conversation accelerates. Every touch in the next one gets weighed. Every missed chance sounds louder.

For Isak, the way out is brutally simple. Move more intelligently. Link play quicker. Attack the box with conviction. When the chance comes, take it. One clean finish can flip the narrative overnight.

Until that happens, Owen’s words will echo around every discussion of Liverpool’s attack.

From the stands, the mood is conflicted. Many Liverpool supporters will feel the need for balance: honesty without hysteria. Isak was poor at Newcastle. No one needs to pretend otherwise. He didn’t stretch defenders, didn’t look sharp, and never carried the menace expected of a striker of his calibre. That has to change, and quickly.

At the same time, the reaction can easily overshoot. Liverpool did not create a wave of clear-cut chances for him. When an attack misfires, the No 9 usually takes the first hit, whether it’s fair or not. What supporters want to see now is intent – the work rate, the angles of his runs, the belief when he goes into the box. Those details still count.

The timing, though, is brutal. With Ekitike unavailable and Salah gone, there is no soft landing. Isak is the focal point by default and by design. Iraola’s demands on his front line are clear: press hard, run hard, finish clinically.

If Isak scores against Forest, the volume drops, the mood shifts and the story changes in a single swing of his right foot. That is the reality of life as a £125m striker at Liverpool.

Concern is justified. Panic isn’t. The ability is there, proven and banked. The question is no longer whether Alexander Isak can do it.

It’s how long Liverpool are willing to wait before he does.