Alexander Isak Must Offer More After Liverpool Stumble Against Fulham

Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield was flat, slow and short on ideas. For Andoni Iraola, still early in his time at the club, it was the first performance that raised a proper red flag. There was no intensity, little incision and almost nothing that unsettled Bernd Leno.

The focus naturally lands on Alexander Isak. He went into the game with three goals in four matches and had started the season looking sharp, mobile and decisive. Against Fulham, he was mostly anonymous. One early effort flashed across goal, then he drifted out of the contest.

Isak performance draws criticism

Charlie Adam did not dress it up. Speaking about Liverpool’s front line, he said: “They just never had that cutting edge at the top end of the pitch. [Bradley] Barcola and [Victor] Munoz never really caused any problems. Isak, for me, needs to do more. It was a tough game to watch.” That is blunt, and it is fair.

This was not a case of one striker being stranded while the rest of the side functioned. Liverpool’s attack as a unit lacked purpose. Barcola failed to stretch the game, Munoz offered little threat and the service into the centre-forward was erratic. Even so, elite strikers do not get a free pass because supply is poor. They have to impose themselves, occupy defenders, bring others in and make the game uncomfortable. Isak did too little of that.

Liverpool attack lacked edge

That is the real issue. Liverpool had the ball, but not enough menace. Their final-third play was predictable and their movement was easy to read. Fulham were compact, organised and rarely forced into panic. When a side controls space that comfortably at Anfield, questions have to be asked of the home attack.

There is already a familiar debate around Isak. How much responsibility lies with the creators and how much with the striker? The answer is simple, both. A forward depends on service, but he also has to affect the rhythm of the game himself. On Saturday, Isak did not press his case nearly hard enough.

Andoni Iraola has a clear problem to solve

Iraola now has a practical issue rather than a dramatic one. He has a proven scorer who started the campaign well, but who looked detached when Liverpool needed a focal point. That demands a response on the training ground, not hand-wringing.

The challenge is to build clearer connections around Isak and demand more presence from him in return. Liverpool do not need panic after one stale draw. They do need sharper patterns, more aggression near goal and more from the man leading the line. Fulham exposed that problem clearly enough. The next step is whether Iraola and Isak fix it quickly.