Isak's Warning: Liverpool's Fight Not Enough in Stuttering Iraola Era
Anfield roared, Liverpool fought, and still the first league win under Andoni Iraola refused to come. A 2-2 draw with Forest on Saturday gave the Reds a point, but also a warning.
Alexander Isak delivered it.
The Swedish striker, who dragged Liverpool back into the contest and then watched Forest strike again, cut through the post-match optimism with a dose of reality. The character is there. The comeback instinct is there. The control is not.
“I think there's no problem in fighting spirit and never giving up. I think we showed that last week as well,” he told TNT Sports. “Obviously we started the game pretty bad today as well. When we gained momentum by scoring a goal, that's where we need to be better, I think, because again today we conceded quite quickly after that.”
That pattern is already becoming a problem for Iraola. Liverpool surge, they respond, they wake Anfield up – and then they switch off.
Flat start, frantic middle
The afternoon began with a whimper. Iraola’s side looked sluggish, short of rhythm, and Forest sensed weakness. The visitors stepped higher, snapped into challenges and, midway through the first half, Dan Ndoye punished Liverpool’s lethargy by silencing the home crowd with the opener.
Anfield grumbled. Liverpool chased shadows. The new era looked raw, not revolutionary.
The response came after the break. On the hour, Isak finally brought the stadium to life, finishing clinically to level the game and briefly tilt the momentum back towards the Kop. It was exactly the kind of moment Liverpool bought him for: one chance, one ruthless strike, a jolt of belief.
It didn’t last.
Almost as quickly as Liverpool had hauled themselves level, Morgan Gibbs-White restored Forest’s lead from the penalty spot. The air went out of Anfield again. The familiar fragility resurfaced.
The Reds did find a late equaliser to salvage a point, and the stadium rallied behind them, but the damage to the broader narrative was done. Still no league win under Iraola. Still a team that can’t hold a game by the throat when it matters.
Weight of the No 9
Isak knows his role in all of this. He is the focal point, the marquee forward asked to lead a new-look attack while the rest of the side learns a new way to play.
Asked if he feels a greater sense of responsibility this season, he didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, of course. That's the job ultimately as a striker,” he said. “Obviously I'm very happy to score the first one and hopefully it just keeps coming.”
He quickly pushed any talk of personal targets aside.
“Not really. I think every striker wants to score in every game he plays.”
The message was clear: goals are his currency, but they mean little if Liverpool keep letting opponents back into games just as the tide appears to turn.
Still learning Iraola’s Liverpool
The shift from the previous regime to Iraola’s high-intensity, tactically demanding style has dominated conversation around Anfield. The Spaniard, who impressed at Bournemouth and Rayo Vallecano, is asking for a different kind of discipline, a new structure, and a relentless tempo.
It has not fully taken hold yet.
“It's been good. There's always time to get used to a new playing style and a new manager,” Isak said. “But we are really working hard to try to play the game he wants us to play and I think when we start doing that better, I have no doubt that the results will come.”
The problem is that the Premier League rarely offers patience. Every misstep magnifies the growing pains. Every concession on the break underlines the gap between theory and execution.
Right now, Liverpool look caught between ideas: aggressive in bursts, vulnerable when stretched, dangerous going forward but too easy to open up when they lose the ball.
Anfield still believes
If there was one unqualified positive, it came from the stands. This was Liverpool’s return to Anfield, and the crowd never abandoned them, even as the performance stuttered and the scoreline swung.
“It was amazing. I think our fans were amazing,” Isak said. “Really happy to be back here at home and I can't wait to be back here again.”
The Kop stayed with them through the chaos, roaring them on as they chased the late leveller and clung to a point that felt, in the circumstances, more like a warning than a reward.
The equation is simple now. If Iraola wants to unleash the full power of a forward line led by Isak, he has to fix a backline that looks too exposed on the break and a team that loses its grip just when it seems to find it.
Next up is a midweek trip to Ipswich Town. Early in the season or not, the question is already sharp: does this Liverpool side learn quickly, or does the pressure around this tactical revolution start to suffocate it?
