Isak’s goal comes at potentially big cost as injury adds to Liverpool’s issues

LONDON — For Alexander Isak, that may have been the moment it all clicked. Not that the 10 minutes before his goal particularly suggested that British football’s record signing was on the verge of anything, but there’s nothing to snap a player out of a prolonged funk like a goal. Even more so as his goal propelled Liverpool forward in a match in which they resolutely failed to win, regardless of Tottenham’s struggles.

That’s when you pay $175 million. They were far too rare for Liverpool, 2-1 winner at Tottenham.

Unfortunately for Isak, however, they may not be much more frequent for some time to come. This is the other trigger that threatens to define this day. Or maybe it was a jar, a jam or something even stronger. Whatever the nature of the damage done to Isak when Micky van de Ven collided with him well after the shot, it was enough to rob Liverpool’s number 9 of what might otherwise have been a moment of ecstasy. There was to be no celebration from Isak or his teammates. Dark, worried faces soon surrounded the Swede, who was writhing on the ground in agony, one hand covering his eyes while the other clutched his left knee. He seemed to fear the worst.

A stretcher may not have been necessary, but the worst fears seemed barely allayed as Isak limped down the touchline at a frightening pace, his weight resting on two Liverpool physiotherapists. Suddenly all kinds of fears appeared. When could Isak return to breathe life into his first year at his new club? Belief is a broken legpotentially putting him out for the next few months, which is a small silver lining to what could have been a season-ending injury. Isn’t that what any buyer would have always feared from a player whose Newcastle career was marked by runs of seven or eight games on the sidelines? What about the World Cup and, of course, the qualifiers in March, where Sweden could really use one of the best strikers in the world?

For Arne Slot, it was far too early for such catastrophism, although he admitted that his intuition was not positive. “I haven’t heard from him,” he said Saturday. “If a player scores and gets injured and doesn’t come on the field and doesn’t try either… It’s generally not a good thing. I can’t say anything more. It’s just a hunch. Nothing medical.

“I haven’t spoken to him about his feelings but it’s a good thing he scored. A good goal, assisted by Florian Wirtz.”

Slot may be intent on finding the silver lining, but the story of this season seems to be that no matter how much they spend, Liverpool can’t have nice things. This isn’t the first time this season that a moment of triumph has been swept away in an instant. The same goes for the idea that the Slot team could have had more time to build the automations that they so clearly lack.

Isak’s goal was the moment the rest of the Premier League had feared since Martin Edwards parked the Brink’s truck outside St. James’ Park and offered an offer that even Saudi Arabia couldn’t refuse. A clumsy moment from Cristian Romero – the first of many – and the ball ricocheted off Alexis Mac Allister and into the path of Isak. A clever hold-up play with his back to goal, then the number 9 slipped the ball to Hugo Ekitike, whose first pass found Wirtz in stride. That long-awaited opening goal betrayed no nerves, a pass played at just the right moment for Isak to bend low and head past Guglielmo Vicario.

“That’s what we’d like to see happen often,” Slot said. “Good finish, good pass. Let’s not be too negative yet. We don’t know. Let’s hope he comes back with us soon. Difficult to say.”

This may seem like an overstatement of an attack that was so much tied to Liverpool’s few other offerings in terms of attack. An Ekitike header 10 minutes into the opener gave them enough of a lead to withstand a late charge, but against 11, 10 or nine men Liverpool never got going. It was one thing to be outplayed five-on-one by Spurs in the lead-up to Xavi Simons’ red card; Tottenham controlled the match quite well from the start. That the score was now 10-7 in favor of Tottenham was as much a testament to Liverpool’s inability to exploit possession and territory as it was to the late charge caused by Richarlison’s disjointed finish seven minutes from time.

Liverpool found themselves hanging on to nine men at the death partly because football is a profoundly stupid sport due to its low scoring, partly because referee John Brooks’ decisions stoked an outrage at Tottenham that was worth at least an extra man and mainly because they couldn’t do enough with the ball. It’s not the first time they’ve found themselves hanging against 10 men – against Newcastle they hit back in more exciting fashion – and it seems there’s something Slot is aware of that makes it harder for Liverpool to impose themselves on teams.

“It’s always difficult. If I try to explain why it’s difficult, people then say to me: ‘you’re telling your future opponents too much’.”

“When we had the ball, that’s what hurt me the most. In the nine minutes of added time, I think they had 95% of the ball. Every time we had the ball, we kicked it away or threw it away. It was unbelievable that we couldn’t keep the ball a little longer.”

This seems like another problem on top of the other one that has dogged Slot for most of this season: that his team is too easily traversed by counterattacking opponents. There were flashes of that, a breakaway chance for Randal Kolo Muani at 10, but until the late drama it felt more like the Inter game, one where Liverpool filled in the center to quell some of the drama. The logic should be that when opponents’ indiscipline allows them to apply more control, they convert that into shots and goals.

Instead, the near-diamond of recent games was more of a lump of coal, all rough edges as Mac Allister found himself pushed alongside Ekitike, Wirtz running high and low in pursuit of the ball. For this system to be effective, the full-backs must be at the top of their form. Conor Bradley was struggling with his radar before his injury-forced exit at the break and too many crosses from Milos Kerkez crashed into Tottenham’s first shirt. The left flank in particular never got going and reversing to more central areas doesn’t seem like the best use of Kerkez, an outfielder across the line who could provide the width that this team too often lacks.

These are the problems Liverpool have asked themselves with their half-billion-dollar overhaul of the champions, one which appears to have left them light on wingers and centre-backs while being overloaded with players who would be happiest in the space between midfield and front line. This may be a team that needs a shake-up, but when you have as much talent as Slot can call upon, there’s always the prospect of something clicking. Not that, However.