When Arne Slot handed Alexander Isak his Liverpool debut under the lights at Anfield, it was more than a team sheet choice. It was a message.
The $170 million striker, who arrived on deadline day from Newcastle United, walked straight into a Champions League starting XI against Atlético Madrid. For Slot, this was about trust, timing, and setting a tone for his new-look side. Sorry, Ekitike.
Isak’s summer had been chaotic. He forced his way out of Newcastle by refusing to train, then spent weeks keeping fit on his own while the saga dragged on. By the time the deal was sealed, he had barely kicked a ball since May, in a competitive game of course.
Slot knew the risks of throwing him in cold but decided the reward was worth it. “This was the plan all along. That’s why he wasn’t involved in the Burnley game, so he could have some proper sessions during the time he was with us,” Slot said in his pre-match press conference.
Liverpool managed Isak’s buildup like a mini pre-season. He made only a brief cameo for Sweden during the international break, then endured an intense week at the AXA Training Centre. Slot was blunt in the same press conference: “You don’t start by playing friendlies, you start with a proper training week, and at the end of that training week you can play 45, maybe 60 minutes — and that’s what we’re going to see with him today.”
The choice to start him here, rather than give him late minutes at Burnley, was deliberate.
The decision also fit Slot’s wider rotation strategy. Andy Robertson returned at left-back, Jeremie Frimpong slotted in on the right, and Dominik Szoboszlai was restored to midfield after being pressed into a deeper role at the weekend. Alexis Mac Allister, nursing a sore ankle, was held back on the bench. These moves showed Slot’s commitment to specialization and freshness, even in a high-stakes opener.
