In his latest long-read for The Athletic, Toon legend Alan Shearer has heaped praise on Newcastle’s new star striker Alexander Isak and labelled him as an “exciting signing that will capture the imagination of the Geordies.’
Isak signed last week for a club record fee of around £58m and could make his debut against Liverpool on Wednesday if his work permit is sorted out in time.
On Isak’s best position, Shearer believes the Swede is a ‘forward, not a centre-forward’ who can ‘play right, left and in the centre’ and should add some quality to a front three that often struggles without the injury prone. Callum Wilson.
Clearly the 22-year-old has bags of ability, but with just six goals in La Liga last season, the Premier League record scorer now believes ‘his task now is becoming more consistent’, feeling Howe could be the ideal man to build on his potential as a tall striker with pace and ‘superb’ positioning.
One department he’s challenged Isak to improve is his aerial threat, feeling it’s a key area for development after just three headed goas in his last three seasons – which came as a surprise to our former number nine given the former Real Sociedad star stands 6ft 4′ tall.
Here’s a snippet from Shearer’s piece for The Athletic:
“I’d describe Isak as a forward, not a centre-forward. I know he’s worn No 9 but he looks like he can play right, left or in the centre.
“Yes, he’ll score goals, but he’s not an out-and-out No 9 at the moment — and so in terms of the pressure to get off the mark, to score 30 goals in the season, he hopefully doesn’t have that straight away. Hopefully, that does come later on.
“There are things he can work on, and goalscoring is one of them. Some people say it’s natural, and in some ways I understand that, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on it, improve and become more prolific.
“In particular, he doesn’t score many headed goals for a 6ft 4in (192cm) striker — only three in three La Liga seasons. That might be down to Sociedad, in terms of the way they play, not putting crosses into the box. And he can score more scrappy goals — the tap-ins from one yard are as good as the ones from 30 yards.
“But I’m sure all Newcastle fans have been watching clips of his goals, and I’m no different. He’s quick, and that will be great against teams who play a high line, stretching teams. And looking at some clips of him, his positioning is superb.
“Isak is not the finished article. There are things he can improve on, and I’m sure he will. And Howe comes into that. Look at the players he’s improved — Joelinton, for example; he’s now one of Newcastle’s main men. If you said that last year, no one would believe you but the transformation in the Brazilian has been magnificent.
“With Isak, the crowd will love him if he just goes out and runs his socks off every weekend. So imagine what it’ll be like if he goes out and excites people, and scores a few goals along the way.”
If our new goalscorer can produce even a fraction of the quality of our legendary number nine, then he’ll be worth every penny of his staggering fee and be adored in the North East as another Toon icon.
