‘Shadow of the player’ – Micah Richards rips into ‘unfit’ Liverpool star vs Man United
Liverpool’s slump in form is alarming as Manchester United became the latest side to beat Arne Slot’s men.
Harry Maguire’s late winner gave Liverpool a 2-1 defeat against Man United at Anfield after Cody Gakpo cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s opener.
More worryingly, this was the Reds’ fourth loss in a row under Slot, and it highlighted how ineffective many of their summer signings have been.
For instance, Milos Kerkez was slammed for his performance against Man United, with some Liverpool fans claiming he isn’t up to the standard to play for a top club.
Alexander Isak’s performance was also cast under the spotlight once more, as his struggles at Anfield continued.
Alexander Isak is ‘shadow of the player’ at Liverpool
Liverpool captured Isak in a record-breaking deal after the 26-year-old forced his way out of Newcastle United.
After spending most of the summer on strike, the Swedish international denied himself a proper pre-season, and his form has suffered as a result.
Isak has failed to score in any of his four Premier League appearances for the Reds, including against Manchester United, as Maguire, Matthijs De Ligt, and Luke Shaw successfully pocketed him.
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, Micah Richards feels Isak is the ‘shadow of the player’ he was at St James’ Park.
“But Isak is a shadow of the player,” Richards said. “This whole debacle of what happened in the summer, it’s showing. He’s not fit.
“Arne Slot said in a press conference before that now we’re going to see the real lsak because he looks like he’s going to be fit now. But the chance that he had in the game, if he’s at Newcastle, he tucks that away.”
Hugo Ekitike should be starting ahead of Isak
In his assessment of the Swede, Richards reserved praise for Hugo Ekitike, feeling the Frenchman deserves to start ahead of Isak.
“Ekitike is the better nine at the moment,” the former Manchester City defender added.
“It’s as simple as that. He’s fitter, he’s sharper. When he came on, he created chances for himself.
“The change of formation to try and accommodate both of the strikers when it went to sort of a 4-2-4, it looked like at one stage in the game. Then they bring Isak off. I just think Ekitike settled in better and he’s had a better pre-season.
“It’s as simple as that, but he has to play.”
Unlike Isak, Ekitike has enjoyed a strong start to life at Anfield after joining from Eintracht Frankfurt with three goals in seven top-flight matches.
The 23-year-old will feel hard done by that he’s had to settle for minutes from the bench in the last two and will surely return to the side against Brentford.