Sam Allardyce believes Alexander Isak could be a ‘major force’ for Liverpool next season.
The former England manager agreed with Phil Thompson that game time at the World Cup would be the key to getting the 26-year-old striker back to his best.
The former Newcastle hitman played a starring role in Sweden’s 5-1 victory over Tunisia at the World Cup, registering a goal and two assists.
Thompson rightly recalled Isak’s turbulent summer, as he tried to secure a move to then Premier League champions Liverpool.
“He needs to play football matches – he’s not played!” the former Red spoke on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“Because he had controversy last pre-season, he never got a pre-season. Sam will tell you. If you don’t have that under your belt, then you come back and you’re playing catch-up.
“Then you’re trying to be bit-fed into the side, because everyone wants to see him. […] but you can’t [play him all the time] and then you risk injury. He comes back, he gets an injury, then against Spurs he gets a broken leg. And all of this intertwines, so you’re not fully fit.
“He’s not had enough games. You can see that.”
Thompson went on to insist that Isak still very much has a future at L4, arguing for the Sweden international to be given time to get back to full fitness: “People writing him off is like… come on. Give the boy a chance. He’s never been fit enough.”
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Sam Allardyce was in broad agreement about the necessity of more minutes for the record Liverpool signing: “The World Cup’s a good thing for him. If he plays every game, that’s good for Liverpool, as it gives him some catch-up time against the rest.
“He can really benefit from the games, because he’s not tired. He’s not fatigued, as he hasn’t done anything this season because of [the injuries].
“[…] It’ll be a good thing if he plays all the games and how far they go, then it links into pre-season with Liverpool and then he could be a major force next season.”
There was a lot to like about Alexander Isak’s 90-minute display against Tunisia – not least of all his remarkable show of pace and goalscoring ability.
But there should be no doubts that this is very much a player who has some work to do to get back to the peak of his powers.
The ability is there, but the Swede spent much of the 2025/26 season in the treatment room or looking a bit leggy on the pitch for Liverpool.
So, with that in mind, Sam Allardyce is spot on: Isak needs some games under his belt ahead of pre-season. Ideally, he could do with picking up the lion’s share of the minutes on offer at the group stage and then, potentially, an early exit in the knockouts in time for Liverpool’s pre-season in early July.
And we could really do with Graham Potter ensuring that our No.9 is carefully managed to ensure that any injury concerns aren’t exacerbated ahead of the next campaign.
Alexander Isak missed 33 games for club and country through injury last term. We can’t afford for Sweden’s World Cup hopes to rest entirely on his shoulders.
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