Liverpool icon claims Slot was RIGHT to axe Salah with Isak defended after latest Champions League blank – Exclusive

A former Liverpool star believes Alexander Isak WILL prove his worth at Anfield after the £125m summer signing drew another blank against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, while the decision to drop “not good” Mo Salah from the Reds’ starting line-up was a necessary ‘sacrifice’.

Isak, 25, joined the Reds in a British record move over the summer after a drawn-out transfer saga that saw him controversially force an exit from Newcastle United.

He missed out on having a proper pre-season after he refused to train for Newcastle, and that could be part of the reason why he has not hit the levels expected.

The Swedish international has scored just one goal for Liverpool – in the Carabao Cup – and is yet to find the net in the Premier League or Champions League, having failed to find the net once again on Wednesday evening during the thumping 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

In an exclusive interview with TEAMtalk, we asked former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey what he thinks Isak needs to do to prove himself at Anfield.

“Maybe proving yourself is probably the wrong phrase to use,” Heskey said. “I think he just needs to go and express himself.

“Everyone will talk about the price tag. He needs to forget all that. He needs to go out and perform. He needs to go and enjoy his football and figure out how he fits within that system.

“We’ve seen it time and time again. When players come from playing in a system which fits them, which works around them, and then comes into a system that doesn’t do that.

“You’ve got to figure yourself out. We’ve seen it with, I think, Fernando Torres, when he went from Liverpool to Chelsea, and suddenly he’s just another cog within that system.

“Isak’s not the main man anymore, and he needs to figure that out. Granted, the system probably needs to help him a little bit more, but he just needs to concentrate on working hard and being aggressive, having good touches, taking players on, being positive on the ball.

“One thing I will say is the Liverpool fans will always get behind you. As long as you have been positive and they’re seeing you working hard and seeing you aggressive, they’ll get behind you.

“That’s all he needs to do. He doesn’t need to do anything else.”

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Isak will ‘find his feet’ as Nunez comparison made

Isak’s £125m transfer fee has been brought into question amid his disappointing form, but Heskey thinks that ultimately, he will ‘find his feet’ and show the price tag to be a worthwhile investment.

“It’s difficult to say Liverpool overpaid. The reason is, I think a lot of these fees are an explosion and it’s not on him, it’s the whole ecosystem,” Heskey added.

“At times. I don’t know how you get to those numbers, but someone’s willing to play it, so you’ve got to accept that.

“I think he will come good. I just think he needs to keep holding his head high, because one thing he can’t do is let it get to you and put your head down.

“We’ve seen it with Darwin Nunez, who, before he came [to Liverpool] was an aggressive player, doing really well, scoring goals. Then he got the energy got sucked away from him. That’s not because of the fans or anything, that’s just your own mental strength that you need to you need to work on.

“Isak needs to work on that. He needs to continue to play well, continue to be aggressive, continue to work hard. He’ll get over this little blip, and he’ll find his feet within that system or the way that Liverpool are playing.

“I don’t think there needs to be too much worry about the price tag. There’s nothing he can do, that’s done now.”

Salah benching right as Slot opts for Ekitike, Isak pairing

One Liverpool player who has impressed this season is Hugo Ekitike, who has notched six goals and an assist in 12 appearances for the Merseysiders so far.

And the former Eintracht Frankfurt man was back in the goals on Wednesday as he netted the equaliser in the Deutsche Bank Park on the way to their 5-1 success.

Heskey believes that an Isak and Ekitike partnership in a two-striker system can continue to flourish, having earlier advised Slot to make the tough decision of dropping Salah from his starting XI.

Ekitike had been benched in the previous two games but clearly had a point to prove on Wednesday night.

“I think [Ekitike] will be feeling hard done by, to be honest, because he’s been fantastic. Everything has been great. His runs, assists, scoring, goals, his work rate. So he’ll be the one who’ll be feeling hard done by,” Heskey added.

“He’ll be wondering why he’s not playing week in, week out. As a young lad, I know what it will feel like for him to be told: ‘Yeah, you sit on the bench for this one.’

“No. You want to play every single minute of every single game, even though sometimes it’s probably done to help you, but you don’t see it then. You don’t see that.

“I think they both [Ekitike and Isak] can play up front together, but then you have to change the system totally at this moment in time.”

On the decision to bench Salah, Heskey feels it was the right call.

“Mo Salah’s not doing great, so he is the one who would be sacrificed. Because when you’re playing Mo, he likes to play high and wide, but if you’re playing two up front, that one can’t stay out there, so he needs to really tuck in.

“Mo can’t tuck in. So I think he might be the one [Slot drops] if you’re going to play the two up front, and I think it’ll be interesting to look at the two up front.

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“I think we haven’t seen partnerships for a long time, since probably the 2010s, probably 10 or 15 years ago – proper strikers playing together.

“I think that would look really, really good for Liverpool and interesting.

“It would pose a different solution and a different challenge for opposition defenders, because they’re so used to not marking two strikers now and only having one to deal them.

“If they have two forwards against them, the runs that they make are going to be interesting, because then the defenders will actually have to defend properly.”

Latest Liverpool news: Press go wild over Wirtz; huge winger deal planned

While the Ekitike and Isak caught the eye, it was another big summer signing, in Florian Wirtz, who caught the eye.

The German playmaker finally contributed his first two assists in Liverpool colours, and, after the game, the press were quick to marvel at his brilliance, with several 8/10 ratings and one calling him ‘an artist’.

With Salah’s absence from the starting line-up another major talking point, speculation on Wednesday suggests Liverpool are ready to ‘push the button’ on a huge move for a red-hot star as his replacement – and exactly what that means for the Egyptian has also come to light.

In other news, Andy Robertson could leave Liverpool in January, and Jamie Carragher isn’t happy about how Slot has treated the Scotsman this season.

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