Alexander Isak ‘likes to be on his own’ as Liverpool squad react | Football | Sport

Alexis Mac Allister has hailed his “amazing” Liverpool team-mate Alexander Isak after the Swedish striker finally found the back of the net in the Premier League. The Argentina international also dismissed suggestions that his fitness levels have been a concern this season, attributing the speculation to Liverpool‘s recent run of disappointing results.

Isak, who became the most expensive player in English football history when he moved from Newcastle to Liverpool for a record-breaking £125million on September 1, scored his first goal for the Reds in their 2-0 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium.

The Swedish star’s performance in the Premier League has been underwhelming since his move to Anfield, largely due to a lack of pre-season training at Newcastle and the protracted nature of his transfer.

A groin injury sustained during Liverpool’s 5-1 triumph over Eintracht Frankfurt in October further hampered Isak’s progress, sidelining him for nearly a month.

However, Mac Allister expressed his delight at seeing his team-mate score as Liverpool secured only their fourth win in their last 13 matches.

“Yeah, I am really happy for him,” Mac Allister said. “I think he’s an amazing player, we all know that. I was joking with him because he doesn’t even smile when he scores!”.

“I’m really happy because he deserves it, the same for Florian. I think he played a really good game. He played really good. So it’s important that they’re getting to their level.

“Alex is very quiet. He likes to be on his own sometimes. You can see that I just try to speak to him because his Spanish is quite good as well. But yeah, he’s a quiet guy and we are all happy to have him here.

“They (the new signings) are really good people. We are all in the same boat trying to get out of this situation and they are very positive. They give their best. So yeah, I think they’re really, really good and everyone likes them.

“We always said it, even last season, that the group is really good. There is a lot of positivity, but again, it’s a tough situation so we understand that people are going to say things, but for us it’s exactly the same. We just want to win games, play the football that we know and hopefully the situation in a couple of weeks is going to be different.

“It’s always important to win, especially in the moment we are in. But yeah, this doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a win. And now we have to focus on Wednesday.

“Hopefully [the win is a boost]. That’s the idea. But to be completely honest, I think today we didn’t see the team that we really want to be. I think we can do much more, especially defensively. But yeah, we need to keep working and now the focus is on Wednesday and hopefully we can get a win at home.”

Discussing his own fitness, Mac Allister said: “I feel there was a lot of talking about me and how I feel physically.

“To be completely honest, it’s been a long time that I feel good and I know that when you lose people are going to keep talking and talking and talking. But it is completely fine. I feel good mentally and physically. So I just need to show it.”

When asked about Florian Wirtz’s performance, who won the club’s in-house player of the match award, Mac Allister praised: “I think there’s no doubt about his quality. What he can do in small spaces, it’s amazing.

“And he did it today. As I said, I think it was a really good performance from him and hopefully he can keep going like this.”