Andoni Iraola on Alexander Isak's Role at Liverpool
Andoni Iraola is under no illusions about Alexander Isak. The Liverpool head coach knows the Sweden striker will score. That part is not in doubt. What Iraola wants now is a centre-forward who can knit his team together, not just finish moves.
With Hugo Ekitike still sidelined after Achilles surgery and Mohamed Salah gone, Isak stands alone as Liverpool’s only recognised central striker. His importance is obvious. His availability, crucial.
Last season at Anfield never really got going for him. His debut campaign was chopped up by injuries: just 12 starts from 22 appearances, four goals, and only one of those after he broke his leg at Tottenham just before Christmas. For a £60m forward, it felt like a false start.
Now Iraola is trying to build something more complete.
“Alex is going to be a very important player for us this season,” he said. “Right now he is in a very good place; he has been training every day, he has not missed a session, he has been adding more and more minutes every friendly game.
“He played a very good World Cup in terms of availability, fitness level, and I want to keep him there as much as we can.
“We know his level and if we can keep him there he will score the goals and give us a lot of things.”
That “lot of things” is where the work really lies. Isak’s partnership with Florian Wirtz, restored to his natural No. 10 role after being shuffled around under former boss Arne Slot, could define Liverpool’s attacking shape this season. The Swede’s movement, his willingness to drag defenders into awkward areas, will decide how much room Wirtz gets between the lines.
Iraola is pushing him hard on that side of the game.
“Probably my fight with him, my instructions, are more in terms of without the ball and how he can help in his position when we are with the ball so he can open spaces for other players,” he explained.
“I am not trying to focus in terms of goals but he is a striker, he will want to score, but I try not to judge the strikers if they score or if they haven't.”
The goals will always be the headline. The manager wants the sub-plot: pressing angles, clever runs, space for others. If Isak gets that balance right, Liverpool’s attack changes overnight.
And the stage for his first big statement could hardly be more charged. Sunday’s opener takes him back to Newcastle, the club he left in acrimonious fashion after effectively going on strike last summer to force through his move to Anfield. A hostile reception is guaranteed.
Iraola, though, refused to fuel the drama.
“I suppose it is always special when you play against your ex-team in their stadium — in the same way when I go back to Bournemouth you always want to do well,” he said.
“The first game of the season everyone will be very motivated and I think it is going to be the same for Alex.”
Liverpool’s options behind him are thin. Ekitike is unlikely to return before the new year, and the club’s recruitment drive is focused out wide. A second bid of £60 million for Brighton winger Yankubu Minteh has already been turned down, underlining where the hierarchy sees the biggest need.
That leaves Iraola to improvise a Plan B at centre-forward.
Cody Gakpo is the obvious candidate. He has already played as a No. 9 under Jurgen Klopp and has been loosely linked with an unlikely move to Tottenham, a rumour that jars with Liverpool’s current lack of depth up front. For now, he remains an internal solution rather than a saleable asset.
“In pre-season we haven't tried as we don't have enough wingers and we prioritised what we need from him in his preferred position as a left-winger,” Iraola said.
“But I have been talking to him about his minutes as a nine; he has done it before and in certain situations he could help us in the nine position.”
So the picture is clear. One fit, in-form Isak leading the line. Wirtz pulling strings behind him. Gakpo on standby to shift inside if required. No safety net beyond that.
For Iraola, the season’s early question is brutally simple: can Liverpool keep their only striker fit long enough for his game — and their attack — to fully evolve?
