Alexander Isak endured a torrid return to St James' Park on Sunday, offering little as Liverpool struggled in the closing stages against Newcastle United, and declined to take a 96th-minute penalty his side had won. Daily Mail columnist Ian Ladyman wrote that watching the £125million striker was "painful," a stark contrast to the confidence Isak once showed for Newcastle, where he scored 54 league goals at better than one every other game.
Liverpool are already leaning heavily on Isak this season after forward Hugo Ekitike ruptured his Achilles against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield in April, an injury that will keep him out until 2027. Cody Gakpo scored Liverpool's goal on the day, while Isak, according to Ladyman, "offered absolutely nothing" yet stayed on the pitch because manager Andoni Iraola had no other option.
New strikers all under pressure
Isak was one of several forwards to join major English clubs last summer, alongside Benjamin Sesko at Manchester United, Liam Delap at Chelsea and Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal. As the Premier League returned this weekend, Isak was the only one of the four to start for his club. Sesko and Gyokeres were named among the substitutes, while Delap has been frozen out entirely by new Chelsea coach Xabi Alonso.
Ladyman noted that United, Arsenal and Chelsea can afford to ease their big-money strikers in as impact players because they have alternatives, whereas Liverpool do not. Gakpo could play through the middle at a push and Florian Wirtz could operate as a false nine, but neither is regarded as a convincing option. Liverpool host Nottingham Forest at Anfield next Saturday lunchtime.
Penalty row at Newcastle
Newcastle coach Matthias Jaissle criticised referee Stuart Attwell over the penalty that denied his side victory, but Ladyman said Jaissle was wrong to do so, describing the contact from Lewis Hall on Liverpool substitute Victor Munoz as clear. The foul came in stoppage time added on after Newcastle used their final substitution, bringing on Fabian Schar for Yoane Wissa in the last minute of the original added time in what Ladyman called a move designed to waste time. Attwell responded by adding 30 seconds, and Munoz won the penalty 15 seconds into that additional period.
Under new rules introduced this season, players must leave the pitch within 10 seconds of being substituted or risk a booking, making time-wasting substitutions largely pointless.
Punditry under scrutiny
Ladyman also questioned the state of British football broadcasting. Sky used Mark Chapman at Newcastle the day after he hosted the BBC's season-opening Match of the Day, which Ladyman said undermines the show's identity, while TNT put The Athletic's David Ornstein on its pre-match panel for the Hull City v Manchester United game. Former England striker Wayne Rooney continued to look uncomfortable in the Match of the Day chair, with Ladyman judging that Joe Hart and Danny Murphy made a better pairing on Sunday's show than Rooney and Alan Shearer had the day before.
Carrick faces reality at Man Utd
Michael Carrick's Manchester United lost at Hull, a result Ladyman described as a wake-up call now that Carrick holds the job full time rather than serving as interim successor to Ruben Amorim. Former Middlesbrough striker Jan Age Fjortoft, now an analyst for Viaplay, suggested United's players had lacked "passion," prompting Carrick to respond: "That is ridiculous. You played football. You [should] understand."
Carrick had spoken before the game about his team's spine giving him comfort, name-checking centre back Harry Maguire, who then struggled at set pieces. When Hull's first goal went in, Maguire was still holding onto team-mate Noussair Mazraoui with both arms rather than tracking the danger.
Promoted clubs spend big
Hull's win was a rare highlight for supporters returning to the Premier League after a decade away. Hull fielded seven new signings, three of whom started the win over United, while fellow promoted side Ipswich Town also started seven new players as they beat Sunderland at Portman Road, having spent more than £150million. Ladyman drew a comparison with Sunderland, who fielded an almost entirely new team last season and are now set to play in European competition.
Tottenham's Savinho gamble
Tottenham Hotspur have also spent heavily, but Ladyman said little can be judged yet about Roberto de Zerbi's side after their heavy defeat at Brentford. De Zerbi was missing Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Pedro Porro through injury, while new signing Omar Marmoush was on the bench for Manchester City.
Ladyman questioned Tottenham's £75million agreement to sign Brazilian winger Savinho from Manchester City, calling it one of the strangest deals in recent Premier League history. Savinho joined City for £30million two summers ago and has managed two Premier League goals and twelve assists since, a fee increase of 150 per cent that Ladyman said Spurs fans will want explained if it does not work out. The comparison came alongside Tottenham's £100million deal for Newcastle's Sandro Tonali.
Arsenal's ruthless streak with Martinelli
Arsenal's growing squad depth, with Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Max Dowman, Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi all among the substitutes as the champions beat Coventry, helps explain manager Mikel Arteta's decision to move on Gabriel Martinelli, who was left out entirely against Coventry and at the Community Shield. Arsenal great Ian Wright said Arteta's treatment of the Brazilian had been unnecessarily brutal, but Ladyman pointed to Arteta's history of moving on players such as Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko, all of whom captained the club at different points before being allowed to leave once their roles were fulfilled.
England eye new faces
England assistant manager Anthony Barry watched Everton beat Crystal Palace on his native Merseyside, seeing a goal from Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and an assured performance from Adam Wharton. Ladyman suggested the display would remind Barry and head coach Thomas Tuchel that England's squad need not be built solely around wingers.
Barry will also have taken note of Everton centre back Jarrad Branthwaite, 24, whose progress has been slowed by injury. Ladyman argued that Ezri Konsa and new Manchester City player Marc Guehi, both rated around 6/10 at the World Cup, need stronger competition than Newcastle's Dan Burn currently provides.
Forest history and a Keegan tribute
New Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner, who left Crystal Palace for the City Ground under owner Evangelos Marinakis, said after an opening defeat to Leeds that his team could not suddenly play like Real Madrid did in the 1970s. Ladyman noted the remark was odd, since Real were not winning major European trophies in that decade. Forest, by contrast, won the European Cup in both 1979 and 1980.
Elsewhere, Ladyman welcomed a weekend free of major VAR controversy under referees' chief Howard Webb's declared "high bar for intervention," while still criticising ongoing wrestling among players at corners, including Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma tangling with a Bournemouth player. An unnamed voice in the Newcastle press room summed it up: "It's like watching kids in a playground."
Alan Shearer, said to be scaling back his television schedule this season, was at St James' Park to witness a tribute from Newcastle and Liverpool to the late Kevin Keegan, with Keegan's family and grandchildren present in the stadium.
