Liverpool’s Alexander Isak sidelined for two months after ‘reckless’ tackle, Slot says

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool forward Alexander Isak will be sidelined for two months with a broken ankle and fibula following a tackle that coach Arne Slot called reckless Tuesday.

Isak underwent surgery on Monday, two days after picking up the injury while scoring the opening goal in a 2-1 win over Tottenham in the Premier League.

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“It’s going to be a long injury, for a few months,” Slot said. “It’s a big disappointment for him and, consequently, for us.

“It was, for me, a reckless challenge. I talked a lot about the tackle by Xavi Simons (who was sent off for dragging his studs up to Virgil van Dijk’s calf in the same match) which for me was completely unintentional.

“I don’t think you’ll ever get injured from a tackle like that. But (Micky) van de Ven’s tackle (on Isak), if you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times, there’s a serious chance the player will be seriously injured.”

Van de Ven slipped into Isak and jammed his shooting foot right after shooting.

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TV analyst and Liverpool great Jamie Carragher defended Van de Ven.

“There was a lot of talk about the challenges of the game from the Tottenham players and a lot of them were not intelligent,” Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday.

“I put myself in Van de Ven’s shoes and that’s a challenge I would probably do. He tries to block it, it’s just the follow-up. I don’t know where anyone else thinks his foot is going to go. He has to take that challenge. You can’t let the striker just shoot in that situation.

“It’s really bad luck for Isak. This is probably one of the first glimpses we’ve seen of his true quality in a Liverpool shirt.”

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Slot was doubly disappointed for Isak as the Sweden international was only just getting up to speed.

The British record $170 million signing had no pre-season due to his dispute with Newcastle, then his fitness was affected by a groin injury in October.

Liverpool were building him up patiently and he had started five of the last nine games, but Slot, who expects Isak to return before the end of the season, does not think he will be as sharp as last season for Newcastle.

“It was a really difficult and difficult time for him. Usually when you join a new club – he was also very excited – you want to show all the qualities you have, but it was just impossible,” Slot said.

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“Maybe no one understands, but if you haven’t trained seriously for three or four months with the team and you’re playing in this league, you have to be at the top of your game to make an impact in a football game.

“It took months because there was no pre-season, just games, games, games and almost no time to train. We all knew it would take him time and that’s why he is so unlucky that he is now injured because we all saw with his goal against West Ham and with that goal (against Tottenham) he is getting closer and closer to the player he was last season at Newcastle.