- 1 hour ago
Liverpool have agreed a £125m deal with Newcastle for Alexander Isak with the Swedish striker set to break the British transfer record. But why do last season's champions need to spend so heavily on another attacking player.Adam Clery dries his eyes and explains why Isak isn't just one of the best centre-forwards in world football, but also one of the most unique. It's a transfer that could change the shape of the club for years to come.
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00:00Right then, hi everybody, Adam Cleary, ACFC, and the messiest transfer saga you have ever seen in your life is
00:09finally over.
00:10Alexander Isak is becoming a Liverpool player for a fee that again sees them break the British transfer record.
00:18Now, of course, being a supporter of one of the two clubs involved in this scenario, I might well have
00:23some feelings about all of this,
00:25but crucially, none of them bear any relevance to his ability as a footballer or his suitability for this team.
00:33So, if you are a Liverpool fan, this is a transfer that doesn't just change your team,
00:39but potentially changes the entire trajectory that they were going to go on for at least the next five years.
00:48Like, honestly, this is massive.
00:55All right, so to start these things, I normally do like a big sort of history profile of the player,
01:00but do we really need that?
01:02Like, full wonderkid vibes of Dortmund, but it didn't work out.
01:05So, after a quick loan to William II or whatever, he caught fire at Sociedad over 18 months,
01:11and had all the big clubs looking at him.
01:14But then he sort of weirdly like fell off a bit of a cliff, only six goals in a season
01:18where so much was expected of him,
01:20saw a lot of that interest cool, and opened the door for Newcastle to decide to take a pretty massive
01:26punt on him.
01:28Sixty-plus million pounds.
01:30I remember at the time, it was seen as, like, this insane risk.
01:34But after one season deputising for Callum Wilson, where he was still doing absolutely nuts stuff like this,
01:40he made that central spot his own and scored 44 goals and got eight assists in 64 Premier League games,
01:49which is fucking nuts.
01:52That is 54 league goal contributions.
01:56And I was there, by the way.
01:58It could have been more in just 64 games.
02:01That is why the fee for this transfer is nine digits long.
02:06But what does that kind of figure actually get Liverpool?
02:09If you've somehow never watched him play before, he is really unique as a profile.
02:15He's a simply ludicrous finisher under certain circumstances,
02:19which we'll cover in this video,
02:21and one of the most graceful dribblers of a ball you will ever see.
02:26Like, he gets a lot of Thierry Henry comparisons,
02:29which I've never personally thought were, like, completely accurate.
02:32Like, I'm pretty sure it's just Arsenal fans saying that,
02:35because he wears the number 14 and kept ruining their lives.
02:40But his ability to completely change a game by doing something out of nothing,
02:44I think, is unmatched in the Premier League currently.
02:48And I'll get you all the numbers and the stats and the nerdy stuff up in a second,
02:51but the way the ball visibly sticks to him,
02:54even when there's two or three players around him,
02:56and he can just snap his way out of those situations
02:59and completely open up defences, is his entire USP.
03:04Now, don't get me wrong, there are better dribblers in the league,
03:07and there are players who more consistently go past their man,
03:10but none seem to visibly inspire terror in defenders
03:14the way Isak does with the ball at his feet.
03:17He will drag you into areas you do not want to be in,
03:21and then just leave you there.
03:23But, my very good friends, let us start with the goals,
03:27because that's what you pay that much money for, right?
03:30Now, in most respects, I think Isak is the best finisher in the league,
03:36but in one other very particular respect,
03:38I actually think he's one of the worst.
03:41And that might sound really daft,
03:44but what it all comes back to is that his greatest strength in the box
03:48is his instinct.
03:50His ability to sniff out a chance and be there to take it is unparalleled.
03:56Like, legitimately, it is better than Erling Haaland's.
03:59And if you go and watch his goals,
04:00there's almost always a moment of unbelievable positioning
04:04that turns a decent chance into a tap-in.
04:08And Liverpool fans, you've already seen this up close,
04:11like the goal he gets in the Carabao Cup final,
04:14and I can't believe I'm putting myself through the trauma of watching that today.
04:18It's like sticking your wedding video on
04:20the day after your wife runs off with your high school bully.
04:22But anyway, the movement in this is really good.
04:26As Liveramento sticks the cross up here,
04:29you would coach strikers to make this movement.
04:33You remember at this point,
04:34Gravenberg just had to drop into the right centre-back area,
04:37and you can just sort of see here his instincts for that position
04:40are not as sharp as Canate's would have been,
04:43and it's left McAllister, of all people, here.
04:46And crucially, because this cross has gone deep,
04:48it's taken Van Dijk out of the equation,
04:50so any decent header from Murphy that's palmed out by the goalkeeper
04:54is right there, in the six-yard box, just waiting for a tap-in.
04:59But I can't stress enough, you would literally coach kids
05:01to make this run from here to here as the chance develops,
05:05but Isak does not do that.
05:08Instead, and this all takes place in a split second, right,
05:11he sizes up both the angle of the ball,
05:14the distance to the goal,
05:16the proximity to Andy Robertson here,
05:18and just, I guess, how good of a header
05:21he thinks Jacob Murphy is.
05:23And he realises that if the ball is going to drop
05:25anywhere in the box, it's not going to be here,
05:28it's going to be here.
05:30Like, if you slow it all the way down here,
05:32you can see that as soon as he turns his head
05:34and gets a read of that situation,
05:36he doesn't just watch it,
05:37he actively makes that movement
05:40from here to here,
05:41and, right enough,
05:42that is where the ball drops.
05:44And if you go back and watch the game,
05:46which, I mean, obviously I've done several times,
05:48he's doing stuff like that
05:49the whole way through it.
05:51Like, the disallowed goal,
05:52he's come from this really deep position
05:54on the corner,
05:55managed to get on every single defender's blind side,
05:58is completely free at the back post
06:00for the tap-in.
06:01Newcastle's first good chance,
06:02he manages to evade Jotter,
06:04and if that is spilled in any way,
06:06he's going to score it.
06:07And the second goal that he nearly got in this game,
06:10he only gets because he is so much more alive
06:12through this situation
06:13than even Virgil van Dijk is
06:16and goes from here to here
06:17before anybody realises what's going on.
06:20If that's a better knockback from Harvey Barnes,
06:22it's 3-0,
06:23and that is just,
06:24all throughout his time in Newcastle,
06:26what he has done.
06:27He reads the play in the penalty area
06:30better than almost every single defender does.
06:33Personal favourite of mine,
06:34this is just a full shove on Erdegaard,
06:38which gives him just about enough room
06:40to score that goal.
06:42And it is as clever
06:43as if he had just dropped five yards away
06:45from Erdegaard to make the space naturally,
06:47but of course if he'd done that,
06:48he wouldn't have been in the best possible place to score.
06:51He knows what to do,
06:52he knows how to do it,
06:53and he's just brilliant at doing it.
06:56And if you do look at the numbers,
06:58his conversion and his opportunism
06:59are absolutely credible.
07:01Just look at his output across an entire season.
07:050.8 goals per 90 minutes.
07:08That's 8 in every 10 games.
07:10It's just shy of Kane or Bayern.
07:12It's better than Erling Haaland,
07:13but the underlying numbers are crazy.
07:18Goals per shot is 0.21,
07:20which basically means he scores 1
07:22in every 4 or 5 chances he gets,
07:24regardless of the quality of those chances.
07:27But 0.48 for shots on target,
07:31which means if he gets an effort away
07:34and it can go in,
07:35it goes in half the time.
07:38Keepers have a 50-50 chance
07:40of saving anything he puts in their direction.
07:43That is...
07:44You just don't see numbers like that consistently.
07:47And the reason for a lot of that
07:49is this seemingly quite number here.
07:5014 yards average shot distance
07:53across the season
07:54is really, really close to goal.
07:57This is an optograph of all of his shots
07:59and his goals.
08:00It's from like the midway point of the season,
08:01so it hasn't got everything in it.
08:03But you can just sort of see,
08:04even then,
08:05how good the positions he gets in
08:07for his chances are.
08:09Are, is, chances are,
08:11chances is, chances were, whatever.
08:13Like out of these...
08:14I'll just move him so you can see.
08:15Like out of these 12 goals at the time,
08:1810 of them were for no further out
08:20than like 7 or 8 yards.
08:22But yeah, okay,
08:23the data says
08:24there are very easy chances
08:25that he gets.
08:26But like,
08:27Isak is the one
08:28who is making them easy.
08:30Like it doesn't just happen.
08:31So yeah,
08:32as I said before,
08:33like the best finisher
08:34in the league
08:35for instinctive,
08:37one touch,
08:37do most of the work
08:39before the ball even gets to you.
08:41Goals, right?
08:42But on the other side of things,
08:44when he's got a lot of time
08:46to think about the chance,
08:48that is currently an area of his game
08:50that he needs to improve.
08:51He is nowhere near as confident
08:53on his left foot
08:54as he is on his right.
08:56So in situations
08:57where there's a lot of time
08:59to think about the shot,
09:00so 1v1s
09:01or just really big openings,
09:02he will always try
09:04and shift the ball
09:05onto his better foot.
09:07And sometimes
09:08that leads to him
09:09losing the chance.
09:10Like I could count you
09:11four, maybe five times
09:13last season
09:13that this sort of hesitation
09:15led to him not scoring
09:17an actual 1v1
09:19with the goalkeeper.
09:20Which I mean, yes,
09:21when he scores you
09:22so many goals anyway,
09:23you do just kind of
09:24make your peace with.
09:24But the level he's hoping
09:26to move up to now,
09:27to have the ability
09:28to settle a tight game
09:30at the very, very top level
09:31and not take it
09:32because you overthink it,
09:34that's currently,
09:35I would say,
09:36not good enough.
09:37That needs to be developed.
09:38Like I can't run
09:39these honours videos
09:39because the Premier League
09:40have said they'll take
09:41my dog hostage
09:42if I do,
09:43which is mad,
09:45obviously.
09:46I don't have a dog,
09:47but every single one
09:49of these absolutely
09:50massive chances
09:51went begging for Newcastle
09:53last year
09:53because he was reluctant
09:54to take them on
09:55with his weaker foot.
09:56And do you know what
09:57the really frustrating thing
09:58about that is, right?
09:59Is he's actually quite good
10:00with that foot.
10:02He scores loads of goals
10:03with his left.
10:04They just tend to be more like
10:05head down,
10:06don't think about it,
10:07really instinctive,
10:08ball just drops to you
10:09type of situations.
10:10But as soon as he has to
10:12remember he has a left leg,
10:13he forgets he has a left leg.
10:15And it's obviously not
10:16a major criticism of him,
10:18but if I am Liverpool
10:19and I am thinking,
10:21oh, how can I take
10:22this really big investment
10:23and automatically
10:24make it better,
10:25that's the number one thing
10:27I would be looking at.
10:28But while we are on the subject
10:29of small criticisms,
10:31given that his link-up play
10:32gets so much hype,
10:34you might well be looking
10:34at this thinking,
10:35well, how come he only got
10:36eight assists over
10:38the last two seasons then?
10:39And firstly,
10:41only eight assists
10:42over the last two seasons
10:43get a grip.
10:44But it's also because
10:45when he does drop in,
10:46he is doing that
10:47to create openings
10:48for the team as a whole
10:49that he then
10:51still expects to finish.
10:53Very rarely does he drop in
10:54to create things
10:55for those around him,
10:56but what he does
10:57is he drops in
10:58to create situations
10:59where those around him
11:01can better service him,
11:02can better do their jobs.
11:03And if you rewind
11:04quite a lot of his goals back,
11:05like this one
11:06is against Brentford
11:07and it's Jacob Murphy
11:08just like skidding the ball
11:09off his forehead
11:10into the back of the net.
11:11But before that happens,
11:12Isak's pulled out
11:14to this left area,
11:15he's drawn the attention
11:16of like one,
11:17two,
11:17five,
11:18six players
11:19into what he's doing.
11:20So when the ball
11:21does get out
11:21to the right-hand side,
11:23Murphy's got so much
11:25more time to cross it.
11:26This is probably
11:26the best example of that,
11:27even though it does
11:28inadvertently become an assist.
11:30This is against Arsenal
11:31semi-finals
11:32of the Carabao Cup,
11:32right?
11:33Tenali does not have
11:34a forward pass,
11:35so Isak drops in here
11:37to give him one.
11:38And just watch
11:39how alert
11:40all of these Arsenal players
11:42immediately are to him.
11:43Like that is a collective unease,
11:46even the players
11:46not immediately near him
11:48feel purely
11:49because he is the one
11:51that's now on the ball.
11:52And if you just watch
11:54the distance
11:55between Lewis Skelly
11:56and Jacob Murphy
11:57before and after
11:59Isak gets on the ball,
12:00you can just see
12:01what impact
12:02his gravity,
12:03his aura,
12:04as the kids say,
12:05has on games of football.
12:07And that is,
12:08I'd say like
12:0990% of what all
12:11his link-up play
12:11looked like
12:12for Newcastle.
12:14Drop deep into space,
12:15find a little pocket,
12:16unsettle the defence,
12:17allow your teammates
12:18to play the ball forward,
12:19but then
12:20look to be the one
12:21that's still getting
12:22into the box
12:22to finish off the chance.
12:23The thing is,
12:25again,
12:25I think if you're Liverpool,
12:27that's another part
12:28of his game
12:29you're probably
12:30going to look to develop
12:31because while he doesn't
12:32really create chances
12:33for his teammates,
12:36he absolutely can.
12:38This moment
12:38always stood out to me
12:40as something like
12:40a look what else
12:42he might add
12:42to his game moment,
12:43right?
12:43Newcastle losing 3-2
12:44to West Ham at home
12:46and he comes
12:46so much deeper
12:48than you would
12:49ever normally
12:50see him do.
12:50He's perfectly
12:51between the entire
12:52midfield
12:53and all of the eyes
12:54in the back line
12:55are still
12:57fixed on him.
12:58And crucially,
12:59because they still
12:59see the danger
13:00as being here,
13:01no matter how far
13:02away from them it is,
13:03none of the defenders
13:04react to Harvey Barnes
13:06and drop
13:07which allows him
13:08to just sprint
13:09in behind the back
13:11of them.
13:11And what happened next
13:12was something you
13:12very rarely saw him do
13:13and he plays this
13:14perfect defence
13:16splitting
13:16through ball
13:17and if he can add
13:18more of that
13:19to his game
13:20with Salah and
13:20Ekotike both likely
13:22to be far further
13:23up the pitch
13:23than he is
13:24at times,
13:25that could be
13:27enormous for Liverpool.
13:28That answers all
13:29the questions
13:29about how he fits in.
13:31And the numbers
13:31suggest he can be
13:32that player
13:33for Liverpool
13:33because the ability
13:34to take players
13:36on and beat them
13:37and carry the ball
13:37are obviously up there
13:38with the very best
13:39in Europe.
13:40Like,
13:41asides from Ekotike,
13:42Liverpool don't have
13:43anyone in the squad
13:44that currently posts
13:45those kind of numbers.
13:47Like,
13:47compare them to Salah
13:48who you do think of
13:49as taking players on.
13:50He can't do that
13:51anywhere near as well
13:53as Isak can
13:53so he's really
13:54adding something
13:55to the squad
13:55just by being there.
13:57This makes them
13:57more unpredictable,
13:58this makes them
13:59more able to
13:59beat low blocks
14:00but quietly
14:01he's also been
14:02posting really
14:03encouraging stats
14:04for what he can
14:05do with the ball.
14:06Like,
14:06more than three
14:08shot-creating actions
14:09which just means
14:10like,
14:10laying on a chance
14:11for your teammates
14:12like,
14:12similar to the
14:13key passes stat
14:14is,
14:15that's kind of nuts
14:16for an out-and-out
14:17goal scorer.
14:18Like,
14:18Harland is at Man City
14:19just to use him
14:20as an example again.
14:21They see way more
14:22of the ball
14:23than Newcastle
14:24and he doesn't do
14:24anything like that.
14:26So the point
14:27I'm trying to make here,
14:27right,
14:28is that in the
14:28immediate term
14:29what Liverpool have
14:30bought is arguably
14:32the Premier League's
14:32most lethal finisher
14:33in front of the goal.
14:34They've bought
14:35themselves a bagged man.
14:36That's why he cost
14:37£130 million.
14:38But at like
14:3925 years old
14:40and with Mo Salah
14:42being 33 or 34
14:44or whatever he is
14:44what you might
14:45actually have bought
14:46is a dynasty.
14:48I've said it
14:49in every video
14:50where I've talked
14:50about Salah
14:50he's done an
14:51unbelievable job
14:52at managing
14:52his physical decline
14:53but now Liverpool
14:54have to do that
14:56as well.
14:56They have to be
14:57more choosy
14:57with when they use him.
14:58They can't just
14:59throw him in
15:00to every game
15:00and the team's
15:01not got to suffer
15:02either creatively
15:03or just in terms
15:04of numbers
15:05as a result.
15:07So there's all this
15:07talk about
15:08Isak potentially
15:09blocking
15:10Eketike's route
15:11into the first team
15:11and I do think
15:12that's going to be
15:13a problem in the
15:13short term
15:14but in the long term
15:16I think he's actually
15:17here to replace
15:18Mo Salah
15:19or at least
15:20replace Mo Salah's
15:22contribution.
15:22Now what we might
15:23be able to do
15:25is recreate him
15:26recreate him
15:27in the aggregate
15:28and obviously
15:29the major question
15:30that then invites
15:31is alright then
15:31Adam well
15:32how the fuck
15:33do you get him
15:33into this start
15:3511 with Eketike
15:36and with Salah
15:37and with Vert
15:37and with everybody
15:38else you want to have
15:39if you want to make
15:39Liverpool tick
15:41and the answer
15:41to that is
15:43that's going to be
15:44a video all of its own
15:45like not to be a
15:47cock tease
15:47but like
15:48I think how
15:49Isak fits into
15:50Liverpool right now
15:51is the most
15:52interesting
15:53tactical question
15:55in the world
15:56right now
15:57this year
15:58like I really
15:59want to do that
15:59properly
16:00and that would be
16:00another full
16:0110 or 15 minutes
16:02so we'll give it
16:02its own video
16:03how does he get
16:04into this team
16:05what options
16:05are available
16:06to them
16:06who misses out
16:07who might benefit
16:08all of that
16:08so hit the
16:10subscribe button
16:11because it's
16:12coming
16:12this week
16:14but yes
16:14until then
16:15that is the
16:16most seismic
16:17transfer I can
16:18ever remember
16:19seeing
16:20like the best
16:20team in the
16:21Premier League
16:22have just gone
16:22and bought
16:23the best
16:23centre forwards
16:25in the Premier League
16:26I can't remember
16:27that happening
16:28since Andy Cole
16:29went to Man United
16:31from Newcastle
16:33it's been a hard
16:34old life
16:34but anyway
16:34let's know
16:35what you make
16:35of it all
16:35in the comments
16:36below
16:36and please
16:37god
16:37my god
16:37don't forget
16:38to subscribe
16:38to ACFC
16:39here on YouTube
16:40perhaps you're cruising
16:41at the minute
16:41and I want to hit
16:42I want to hit
16:43a quarter of a mil
16:43for my own ego
16:44and for just
16:45everything else
16:46it would be
16:46nice
16:47so please do do that
16:48and you can get me
16:49across all the
16:49social medias
16:50at Adam Cleary
16:50C-L-E-R-Y
16:52we're launching
16:53channel memberships
16:54I was supposed to
16:55make a bigger deal
16:56of that
16:56in the video
16:57but this ended up
16:58being a much
16:58bigger video
16:59than I thought
17:00it was going to be
17:01so there'll be
17:01more info on that
17:02this week
17:02we're doing
17:03something so so
17:04so so fun
17:06with that
17:06you're going to
17:07really like it
17:07I hope
17:08more information
17:09later on
17:10and nothing about
17:10the regular channel
17:11is the channel
17:11will stay exactly
17:12the same
17:12as it is
17:13and you enjoy
17:14it currently
17:14but we're going
17:15to add a cool
17:16membership thing
17:16on top of that
17:17so more about that
17:17later
17:18Alexander Ushak
17:19to Liverpool
17:19I'm away to
17:21unfollow Fabrizio Romano
17:22I've had enough
17:23goodbye
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