Alexander Isak was unbelievably brilliant this past Sunday afternoon. The speed is like a cheetah on the field, jumping high in the air like Michael Jordan slamming the basket, growing from the ground behind the opponent’s defense like a heavenly soldier, turning to catch the ball and then skillfully playing the ball under his feet and then suddenly fire, creating a shot that burned through the air and a header that was as vicious as an ax chop.
The striker is one example of an antithesis in sports: being tall is not necessarily strong because he has a nuclear reactor in his slim body. Ask the Wolves defenders how they “cry out” when Isak danced, wriggled and manipulated like wooden puppets!
Only 23 years old this year, Isak still has a lot of work to do to maintain his incredible form and performance on a consistent and regular basis. But surely this striker will do it because it is completely within his ability. As in this match, he showed the qualities of a Viking warrior.
The Geordies only knew the tack when they watched Isak glide across the pitch with or without the ball. He has the ability to control the ball tightly, as well as the ability to change direction at high speed. These qualities have turned Isak into an incalculable danger that the defense does not know whether to move forward or backward to control. The answer is that both options are useless.
The defender cried on the pitch, but in the stands there were applause and indignation, especially when Isak caught a ball in the narrow space from a cross. . This is really the kind of attacking player they like: quick, strong, brave and outspoken.
After a failed attack in the first half, he threw his arms in the air and the home team’s fans responded by turning up the volume of what was playing through his throat. It takes a certain amount of confidence to interact with such a sea of people. Now, there’s a gladiator feeling about him.
The £60m signing from Real Sociedad scored Newcastle’s first goal in the 2-1 win over Wolves over the weekend with a stunning header, something that any of the club’s famous No. years to be proud of. It’s reminiscent of Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand of the good old days.
However, things are not so favorable for Alexander Isak in the style of Erling Haaland, who has just launched the Premier League and has “buried” this tournament with 28 goals. At the time the deal took place in August 2022, sources in Spain said, Newcastle had been duped beautifully in the purchase of this Swedish striker. As statistics from La Liga show, Isak only scored 6 goals for Real Sociedad last season. In the 7 months since then, those doubts have become certain because he also has only 4 goals for Newcastle in the Premier League, adding 1 assist in the Carabao Cup.
Of course, when he went to the Premier League, Isak was not in the best shape. A tear in his thigh muscle when he was called up to the Sweden national team in September kept him out of action until January. What followed was another jolt and another period of sit-ins that jolted Isak’s mind in every sense of the word.
But Isak’s performance on Sunday night showed he was worth every penny of the £60m deal. And if this is the beginning of a high level of stability, Newcastle have found a special talent.
Coach Eddie Howe said: “Hopefully, this is the beginning of a promising striker. He has all the offensive skills a striker needs like speed, technique and power. His latest goal doesn’t come with a personal brand, but it’s what I needed: the ability to score all kinds of goals.” Isak’s goal and victory over Wolves was a victory for Newcastle’s spirit, a testament to their individual strength. They broke the streak of 6 games without winning, started scoring again, reclaimed 5th place in Liverpool’s table, and are only 4 points behind Tottenham but have 2 matches left.
Strangely, this is like the premiere of Isak, an afternoon of truth to draw boundaries under the tensions and skepticism of the previous seven months. Newcastle can finally smile!
Alexander Isak is Dortmund’s “pain”
Dortmund is Europe’s leading youth academy. They are very good at buying rough jade, sharpening it, and selling it at a very high price. The typical products of Dortmund’s furnace are all contemporary players such as Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan, Jadon Sancho, Erling Haaland… However, Dortmund misjudged the raw gem Isak when selling this striker to Real Sociedad in 2019 with price of 7.5 million euros, which is lower than the price of 8.6 million euros they paid from AIK in 2017.
