spent £130 million to buy Isaac, and Liverpool's investment in this summer window is amazing. What the team wants is not just the Premier League championship this season, but perhaps the longer-term future.
The team left by Klopp is being erased bit by bit. The arrival of Isaac and Ekitic may be accelerating Salah's farewell, and the Trident transforms into a double striker? There will be more possibilities in Liverpool's future.
01. Spend 480 million euros to break the record: Liverpool entered the Slot era
a. Historical record of spending money in summer windows: Fenway left the mark of the era
Since Fenway took over Liverpool, fans once liked to describe them as stingy. But don't forget that the last time Fenway's winning all sides led the Champions League championship led by Klopp and the first Premier League championship in team history.
This time, Fenway opened his wallet again, but created a new historical height for spending money. Although he missed Guy after getting Isaac by buzzer, Liverpool's total spending in this summer window exceeded the 480 million euro mark, which exceeded the 464 million euros set by Chelsea in 2023, setting a new football record.
Liverpool's current lineup is quite luxurious. Although he did not get Guy, Gomez stayed in the team to allow Slott to have 4 central defenders, and the young Leoni will get more opportunities.
The key is on the front line, the arrival of Isaac and Ekitic has also allowed Liverpool to further get rid of their dependence on Salah. The ability to take balls and organize and promote the frontcourt has reached a big step, and Slot is fully prepared for Salah's departure.
b. Isaac in Newcastle: There are signs of replicating Dembele
From the tactical positioning at Newcastle United last season, it can be seen that Isaac plays at a center position. In the game, he can retreat to the center circle to organize the promotion, and he can pull the side and take the ball to launch an attack at any time.
More importantly, after he retreats to the center circle, he can run back to the penalty area to grab the point or attack the goal. At the same time, Isaac has the ability to pass a wonderful pass at the front of the penalty area. Through his fast movement frequency, good ball sense and excellent flexibility, he completed some amazing ball processing balls.
Demberle was a great success at Paris Saint-Germain last season and is infinitely close to the Golden Ball Award. One key point is that when he switches offense and defense, he can withdraw the ball and drive the two wings to advance and start up.
Compared with Dembele, Isaac's feet and body flexibility are also excellent, but there is a big gap between the timing of passing the ball and the overall view. However, he is also trying to improve. It is still very common for him to run back after the ball is winged and then run in the penalty area.
Not only can he handle the ground ball, Isaac is also trying to practice heading. Even if his teammates make a pass, he can intervene in the penalty area and complete the heading attack.
The key is that Isaac's movements are fast and flexible, and it is easy to get back and get the ball and get rid of the first defender. At the same time, his ankles are very flexible and can send out some exquisite passes.
is just that Newcastle teammates have limited abilities, and some balls cannot make effective next steps, and cannot truly show the opportunity to advance Isaac brought, which has led to some of his handling of the ball not being paid enough attention.
I believe that after coming to Liverpool, Slot will give him a bigger stage and have the opportunity to bring more things. Regardless of whether Dembele's success can be reproduced or not, I believe that Isaac will bring tactical revolution and upgrade to Liverpool and bring more future possibilities.
However, if Isaac wants to replicate Dembele's success, the first problem to solve is his enthusiasm for running without the ball. From the Premier League data last season, we can see that Isaac's desire to confront (the number of times he won the ball) and the proportion of sprints are relatively low.
Demberle's success is not only based on his talent, but has a great relationship with his efforts and a lot of running. You should know that this data has an inflated component, because Isaac's feet is excellent and he is very efficient in winning one-on-one confrontation. At the same time, he is also very fast, and the sprint is one of the tasks he must complete in daily life.
In fact, Isaac's biggest problem is that his "straight running" ratio is insufficient. Many times, in addition to having the opportunity to complete the sprint, he will have more proportions of walking.
It was like this Newcastle counterattack advance. When his teammates made a straight pass, Isaac did not rush, but instead his forward partner Murphy ran without the ball, but he didn't get the ball.
Then Newcastle's entire team entered high-level pressing, but Isaac remained in place without moving and did not really participate in oppression. This issue must be taken seriously after coming to Liverpool. After all, Real Sociedad and Newcastle gave him a high tactical status and tolerance, and Liverpool could not allow Isaac to enjoy the team's core defensive exemption.
02. Isaac's talent is unquestionable, but there are many flaws
a.
Last season, Isaac scored 23 goals in the Premier League (the expected goal is 20.42), but he also missed 18 excellent scoring opportunities. It should be said that Isaac's shots are not stable enough, and some balls are of high quality, but they will also miss some good opportunities.
In addition, Isaac averaged only 14.9 successful passes per game, which is still his transfer from the midfield. I have to say that Isaac's participation in the game is not very high, which is his biggest problem.. Fortunately, among these limited passes, Isaac sent more than 50 key passes, bringing 11 excellent scoring opportunities and 6 assists.
Isaac is a player who can change the situation. Just like this time he retreated to the middle circle to receive the ball, then relied on his personal ability to throw away the defender and broke through the opponent's middle defense line. After passing the ball to the wing, Isaac ran to the penalty area in the middle, waiting for his teammates to pass it.
In the Premier League last season, he had scored points in the penalty area several times. It should be said that the offensive limit that Isaac can bring is still good, which is why Liverpool is willing to spend a lot of money on him.
Isaac has strong dribbling ability and he has speed, so when changing offense and defense, Isaac can directly pierce the opponent's penalty area as an arrow.
Just like this time, even if it is blown offside, it is quite typical. Isaac received the ball into the penalty area, and then he deliberately slowed down because he was very confident in his dribbling skills. The problem is that sometimes Isaac dribbles too much and changes too much at the same time, which will disrupt his shooting rhythm and prone to inexplicable situations in the last kick.
This time is even more typical. Isaac responded with a long pass. He squeezed out the defender and got the landing point in the first fight, and took the lead into the opponent's penalty area.
The Brentford defender wanted to make up for defense, and Isaac flashed out the angle after passing by lightly. At this time, he should shoot by himself, or pass the ball to Barnes who was inserted in the back. But Isaac was too confident. He changed his direction again, but instead added to his slightest efforts. As a result, because he lost the shooting angle, Isaac had a pass in a hurry, relying on his fast movement frequency under his feet.
Unfortunately, Barnes was already in an offside position at this time. The ball was in the middle of the game, but the call was invalid.
b. Good flexibility + fast action frequency: Isaac's talent is still high
If Isaac is used to evaluate Isaac, then Isaac's flexibility, flexibility, speed, and speed as a tall attacker, combined with his footwork skills, is his core competitiveness. Even if the shooting and heading are not good enough, the progress in recent years is very obvious, and we can see more possibilities for improvement in the future. The real problem is his running volume, the frequency of active receiving, and the timing of passing, which is the key to curbing him to the next level.
It was like this wave of header back, Manchester United made a mistake in the goal, Newcastle teammates passed back to the penalty area, Isaac went from stopping the ball to turning around with the ball, the frequency and accuracy of this set of actions were so fast that it showed his talent.
The last pass was also very fast and very sudden. Even though there was some problem with the passing point and I couldn't find my teammate, this kind of handling the ball was likeable and showed his higher upper limit possibility in the future.
Isaac has the ability to send imaginative passes in the core area, which is also one of his characteristics or core competitiveness. This time his wonderful pass helped his teammates break through Manchester United, which is an example.
03. When Isaac comes to Liverpool, it may turn the Trident into a double forward
a. Defensiveness + unstable shooting: Liverpool must be patient
Isaac's playing style and habits determine that it may be difficult for him to return to the winger position, especially to the left winger. In the past three rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool asked Garkepo to retreat to the bottom line of his side when playing the left winger.
Isaac had only 0.4 steals and 0.09 interceptions in the Premier League last season, and averaged 1.6 ball rights per game. The defensive contribution is just as good as Mbappe, and this is not something that can be changed immediately if the other team is changed.
On the other hand, when Isaac shot, due to his long legs, even if he moves very quickly, there are still some restrictions when swaying his legs.
On the one hand, he dribbles too much and is prone to missed opportunities. On the other hand, in the face of some sudden opportunities, his shots are often not easy to adjust the angle, which is a bit "to the flow".
This is actually a common problem for many big attackers or long-legged attackers. They can make beautiful world waves, but they can easily lose some easy balls. All of the above makes Isaac need to give him more patience and tolerate some of his mistakes after he comes to Liverpool.
b. Trident changed to double strikers: Neither Wilz nor Salah were "must"
After Isaac joined the team, Liverpool had the possibility of turning the Trident into a double striker in the future. Ekitic is very accustomed to this style of playing in Frankfurt. He and Isaac have both skills and speed, can pull the edge at any time, and can also retreat to the middle circle to get the ball. Their partners may make more tactical changes.
Salah may gradually fade out next, and Wiltz will be placed in a full-back position to allow Liverpool to "recover" the three midfielders. Sobosloy proved himself a good big wingback who might be able to switch between midfield and wing.
Liverpool will play more of a three-center-back in the backcourt, and Kolkz is a corner-center-back. When he assists forward, Gravenberg will become a central-back.
There is a problem that Flynnpon is an offensive full-back. His positioning in this lineup has some conflicts with Sobosloy, and Slot needs more answers.
The prospects are not optimistic for Werz. The arrival of Isaac and Ekitic has made Liverpool's technical content higher in the frontcourt, but neither of them is the real fulcrum or confrontation point, and Wiltz did not get the tactical center he wanted.
It is still difficult for him to succeed in Liverpool. After all, Wilz's skill in getting the ball in a small space is not that reliable. He needs his teammates to create space for him, but the Premier League central defenders are very explosive. If he doesn't have his teammates to hold him back, Wilz likes to be defeated. When facing a weak brigade, it may be easy to cooperate when hitting a wall, but it will be difficult to fight a strong enemy.
Isaac's joining the team is difficult to distinguish between good and bad for Werz. Maybe Slot needs to find more solutions to whether he can find compatibility later. 
Conclusion:
Say ten thousand words. Isaac is not what Liverpool currently needs, but he can bring changes to the team's future. However, he finally missed the complete summer training. In the past two months, he has wasted his time and his condition this season will be affected later.
Liverpool needs to give Isaac more patience, and even run into the lineup, and changing the style of play will have a longer process. The role of Isaac and Ekitic will show the strongest appearance after 1-2 years, rather than immediate results.
(Himu)