It’s been the summer of strikers striking. No picket lines, of course, but plenty of not available to be picked.
Yoane Wissa forced his will at Brentford, Viktor Gyokeres played hard ball at Sporting, but the shop steward of disruption was without doubt Alexander Isak.
To force his move from Newcastle to Liverpool he withdrew his labour for 14 weeks. Three months of training alone and not playing.
He turned red to become a red, and he hated every second of it because, in the end, no matter how big they are or how much they earn, all footballers really want to do is be out there.
They want to be out there on the pitch, out there on the training ground and out there with their teammates.
Isak smiling again with Sweden
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Swedish national team manager Jon Dahl Tomasson explains how he can get the best out of both Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak as they played together for their country
Of course, none of us actually saw Isak this summer but I can guarantee you there wouldn’t have been much smiling.
That’s why the first thing his Sweden head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson said after watching Isak train for the first time in a long time as part of a group was: “He’s smiling. Have you seen his face? He’s so happy to be here. That tells you a lot about how much he really likes being in a group.”
I saw that Isak smile in Stockholm too.
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Liverpool’s announcement video for Isak after his £125m transfer from Newcastle
It was a big, happy, wide smile. Even bigger than the one on his face 24 hours earlier as he posed in his new Liverpool No 9 shirt.
I think the stress of a difficult summer and the exhaustion of a long deadline day was showing in those images. He certainly looked drained as I watched him arrive at the Swedish team hotel at 1.15 am on Tuesday.
Ten hours later however, it looked like a weight had lifted off his very expensive shoulders.
‘Isak champing at the bit to get going’
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Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink believes Alexander Isak needs game time if he’s to start for Liverpool sooner rather than later, with the Swedish striker having yet to feature this season
With his team-mates at the training ground in the rural Lidingö area of Stockholm, he started with some gym work.
Journalists had been warned not to bank on seeing him. He may opt to stay away from the spotlight and continue with his own special fitness programme indoors we were told.
Not a bit of it.
After so long training alone he was clearly champing at the bit to be in full training with everyone else. He smiled as he came down the steps from the gym. There were about a dozen steps. He jumped down the final three, desperate to get going.
Out there, at last, with his teammates. Doing what he was born to do.
He’s made clear to Tomasson that he’s not just going to train. He wants to play some part in Sweden’s World Cup Qualifiers against Slovenia and Kosovo.
Tomasson calls him a ‘game changer’ and says he WILL get minutes, but after conversations with Arne Slot and the Liverpool medical and physical staff he’s promising not to take risks with Isak.
“We are not going to do stupid things with him. But we have a plan,” Tomasson said.
“Normally in pre-season you have plenty of training and plenty of games. This is not the case with Alex.
“He is a game changer. But can he play 90 minutes? Of course not.”
Gyokeres’ backing for Isak
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Viktor Gyokeres expressed it can be tough when you’re involved in a transfer saga, as he links up with Swedish team-mate Alexander Isak for international duty
Tomasson has got options so will be careful with Isak, but he knows his team is better with him.
He likes to play two strikers in Isak and Gyokeres. Two ‘strikers’ in more ways than one these days.
Gyokeres has hit back at the ‘striker’ tag. He disagrees with the notion that player power has gone too far. He said this week that what’s seen as acceptable behaviour by clubs should be seen as fair play by players.
“The clubs have the most power. It’s difficult for players to choose (their futures) in a lot of cases,” he told me.
“When a player is not wanted by a club it’s the total opposite. He doesn’t have any power. The club can do whatever they want with a player so it’s difficult. That’s how the situation is.”
After his messy departure from Sporting he knows better than most what it’s been like for Isak.
Is he relieved the transfer window is closed?
Isak in Liverpool colours after his Deadline Day move was announced
“Yes of course,” he said. “That’s what you want. It’s not really something you want to be stuck in forever.”
Isak says ‘hear, hear to that’, I’m sure.
All the Sweden players I spoke to this week have been fully supportive of Isak’s determined stand this summer. He’s got one big fan in the squad in particular.
Celtic’s summer signing Benjamin Nygren plans on spending quite a lot of time with Isak.
“I’m looking forward to playing him in his Liverpool kit on FIFA,” he said.
We won’t see Isak in a Liverpool kit for real until at least next Sunday at Burnley, live on Sky Sports.
His time with Sweden is being well utilised in the meantime as he gets ready physically and mentally for that much-anticipated Liverpool debut.
Sunday 14th September 1:00pm
Kick off 2:00pm
