19 Oct 2026 09:45:27
Hey, Question for ED01,
Despite his ability or capability currently to press, do you see this changing under AI? Do you feel he has that within him or not?
Added, given like the last few matches how clinical he is in front of goal given half a chance, do the rest of the team bear the brunt so to speak just for him to get goals?
Thanks
Jp.
{Ed001's Note - are you talking about Isak? If so, he has to change, you can't carry players in the Premier League. It not just ups the work the others have to do, but increases the risk of them picking up injuries. He is capable of doing it, he is an intelligent player. I think the issue would be his fitness issues will probably mean he would only be able to play that way once a week, so we will need an option for the extra games. Which is needed anyway, as he can't stay fit.
Personally, much as I think he is a fantastic player, I think we need to look to replace him and move him on in the summer. He simply can't stay fit.}
19 Oct 2026 11:32:44
Starting to agree, Ed, the Brentford game showed why in a nutshell. Excellent vision and execution for his goal, I thought it was genuinely top drawer, but he doesn't work enough and hasn't shown any signs of increasing that.
Although I am willing to see how it goes once Ekitike is back. If we can rotate Isak with him frequently (which I think was the plan) then maybe we will see him pressing more, as it seems almost like an instruction at the moment. Otherwise, surely Koumas would have started vs Brentford before hurrying Isak back on the pitch?
{Ed001's Note - you have to either start Isak or not play him, it is much more dangerous to bring an injury prone player on off the bench as they are never properly warmed up. While there are ways to mitigate that, and in general with changes in training, it is still a bigger risk than having him properly warmed up. So if he is fit, you really have to start him.}
19 Oct 2026 11:53:27
Who would you replace him with Ed001? Feels like slim pickings in terms of forwards that we can obtain these days. Would love Alvarez but I don't see him coming back to England.
{Ed001's Note - that is a good question. There are very few good goalscorers around at the moment. You have players like Brobbey, Thiago and Evanilson, but they are not the best in front of goal. Still, any one of them would be ideal to work with Koumas and bring him on as well.}
19 Oct 2026 11:55:52
Who would you look to replace him with, Ed001?
Or at the risk of jinxing anything, which forwards do you think are most suited to Iraola's system?
{Ed001's Note - the 3 I said above seem the closest, other than Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez.}
19 Oct 2026 12:17:36
It will be impossible to move him on ed001 without taking a hit in the transfer unless the saudis can bail us out. He's fitness issues were already there at Newcastle and its just carried over. Personally for me a 100million pound player has to be available all the time. that's the very least.
{Ed001's Note - yeah exactly, it is just too large a financial hit to take unless they are able to play pretty much every game.}
19 Oct 2026 13:01:34
If we're still on the over $100m vibe, perhaps we'd be better served putting that money into building a time machine so we can go back to just after we bought Ekitike and then give Hughes head a wobble.
19 Oct 2026 13:11:08
Thanks Ed for the reply.
Brobbey would be a fun player to have to watch.
19 Oct 2026 13:20:15
Ed, are there no other ways to at least increase a player's robustness and resistance to injury, i. e. weight training and adding extra mass to a player's frame?
Every time I watch Isak, I just can't help but think he looks like his legs could do with more work in the gym to improve mass and strength.
{Ed001's Note - mass can have the opposite effect, but it is possible to strengthen joints and ligaments, which make a huge difference. You would training similar ways to say Shaolin do, which would be beneficial in the long term as that does not weaken as quickly as muscle mass. That is why you see elderly martial artists still having speed and flexibility. Yoga is another way to get that strength. Isometrics too. All three types of training are very similar and can have a major effect on reducing injury.}
19 Oct 2026 13:43:59
If people think we struggle to score now it would be much worse if our striker was just a big brute who creates nothing and rarely troubles the keeper but "puts it about"
Man up top needs to score. Isak is doing that. Owen, Torres, Fowler were all fromtmen who did virtually no defensive work at all yet if any were in their prime right now everyone would take them because they do what strikers are supposed to do - score goals.
I know people will use rush as an example but the dude was a freak. With strikers you almost always either get a goal scorer OR a defensive forward. You rarely get both. Even Bobby struggled to score for long periods and he's probably the best all round forward of the modern age for Liverpool.
19 Oct 2026 13:59:45
When power-hungry, non-football people try to build a dream team, this is what can happen.
There is a reason Jürgen chose Darwin over Isak, for better or for worse.
Isak needs to be the focal point, with a team built around him. Wirtz needs pace and movement in front of him, and Isak can be statuesque.
He does score winning goals, though. But, like Haaland, he doesn't do a great deal more.
19 Oct 2026 14:02:51
Agree with Nevada for the 1st time ever. Isak is class and will hopefully stay fit and bang in 100s of goals for Liverpool in the years to come ?.
19 Oct 2026 13:33:08
Isak is going nowhere anytime soon due to the exact reason Ed mentioned as in, the financial hit. The issue here is that despite all the reservations we might have, Isak is going to be here. It is what it is.
And the fact that there are no adequate replacements out there (cos the ones Ed mentioned are simply not at the level of Isak in front of goal) just proves the point I made above.
We 're either going to be hopefully that Eki can comeback stronger and fit to play and rediscover himself. Or we get an option in to spell him to get him rested and fit to play.
But at the club heirarchy level as a financial topic, selling Isak is a non starter right now, imo.
19 Oct 2026 14:48:53
Well if it was me I'd cash out on Isak the minute the summer transfer window is open. A totally unreliable player. Take the hit now and go buy Lauturo Martinez like we should have done in the first place.
19 Oct 2026 14:58:05
He's scored 5 in 6 and we've decided we're selling him? :)
His pressing will become more effective when the whole team is more confident in pushing up.
His fitness was priced in before we bought him. Everyone knew his fitness needed to be managed.
We signed Hugo Ekitike to rotate with him.
19 Oct 2026 15:05:48
I actually think we will get back maybe not all we paid but certainly £100m+ on Isak. I think his fragility and bouts of unavailability would be lessened in one of the other European leagues, maybe with some 'swap type' deals with, for example, Atletico and Alvarez.
I do agree with an earlier comment that we need to stop firing 9 figures here there and everywhere to try to assemble the most impressive players whilst paying no heed to the overall team.
19 Oct 2026 17:04:35
I'm not as concerned about Isak as I originally was, think he has been ok this season and fitness will take time to develop fully. We are desperately unlucky that both him and Ekitike and now Gakpo have had injuries so rotation hasn't probably been as much as AI would have liked or envisaged.
I do think the pressing and game involvement has been piss poor but that has been team wide!
19 Oct 2026 18:09:30
Wouldn't swap Isak for Martinez. Never been impressed with him when seeing him against the big English sides.
19 Oct 2026 17:34:13
Wasnt necessarily referring to in-game rotation Ed, although I have to imagine it would come up occasionally - especially with Ekitike working his way back to fitness. I do think, if we he does need to be moved on, we're going to have to accept a bit of a haircut although maybe not as much as before the summer just gone? Fees have gone a bit nuts.
Money no object Ed, is Alvarez the one?
{Ed001's Note - yes.
19 Oct 2026 19:01:58
He'd suit us down to the ground FM. He's reliable, fit and strong. He's a very good forward. We should have moved hard for him instead of Isak but that's just my opinion.
19 Oct 2026 20:05:22
Josh King at Fulham could be a good option. Especially if we can get Ekitike fit.
19 Oct 2026 20:29:30
What's your impression on our overall pressing game at present? On tv live it can look ok when we hunt in packs but I was watching back some highlights of our last games at a wider angle and it was a bit more worrying. There was countless times when our front four would press high but then our defensive line appeared very deep and actually dropping back quiet early leaving our midfield wide open, seemed to me that once u bypass our initial press we can be quiet a way off making an effective channel making it so easy to run directly at our midfield and back line.
Admittedly this isn't all the time but there was quite a few examples, kinda reminded me of the 7-2 Villa game in 2020. Early doors for AI but something we really need to work on.
19 Oct 2026 21:48:20
Isak's output has always been tailored. We knew this when we signed him. If you push him, he's going to get injured. Sure, there's a certain amount you can do for injury prevention, but we're talking about genetics here, it cannot be changed. Iraola is very aware of all the above, Isak is operating under instruction, it's not accidental. He may up the ante somewhat periodically, in the grand scheme of things, he's not long back from his injury, if you want Isak pressing he has to be tactical about it, he can't chase down every defender on the pitch like Koumas does, that's a disaster waiting to happen.
Generally speaking, his output will remain tailored, so get used to it. We brought him in because he's a clinical finisher, not because he's the next Mo Farah, despite the similar build.
19 Oct 2026 22:29:59
Just out of interest but did Salah do a lot of pressing because I can't remember it.
I think Isak is one of those rare players you can carry effectively because he's a goal scorer.