Alexander Isak

[Hovagod]

1 minute ago, JonBez comesock said:

I just think  a few of the clubs above us didn’t go in for him when he was at Real Sociedad as they want him to prove it in the premier league and become more consistent (in his all round play as well as goals) 

Well, that was a huge fuck up on their part wasn’t it? But you’re right to point out that Chelsea and Man Utd are the wise ones when it comes to transfers. A rare error. 

[Dan Gleebals]

33 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

There has been times where he has gotten lost in games, but that is probably mostly due to playing with injury and being isolated etc. Scary to think about what he could do in a team where he has more support upfront. I also think he's being more consistent now than when we first signed him.

 

 

 

TBF, you can say that about almost any player (getting lost in some game), even the elite ones.  Haaland is often not involved in the game, and boom, 2-3 goals.

 

Alot of Isaks form is tied to how we play as a team, although without doubt he creates a fair amount for himself.

Agree, another season of 25+ goals and he is right up there.  

[Beren]

Just now, Pata said:

Andy Cole at NUFC was right before me but I can't accept having Man Utd Cole being part of that group. His finishing was horrible despite the numbers and I always laughed at him. Would be interesting to see some xG data from that period but feel like he should have scored a ton more at Man Utd.

 

Andy Cole was quite widely characterised as a 'one goal in five shots' striker from what I recall.

[Gawalls]

27 minutes ago, Upthemags said:

No issues with a 100m+ release clause - is extraordinary when he's healthy but seems to have a knack for injuries. We could sign the whole England national team with that money if it came to that. Would be best to keep him around of course - would be no replacing of his quality at striker.

we need to add an inflation clause to that release clause as well so it stays in value with current £100M+ players in the future

[Pata]

2 minutes ago, Beren said:

 

Andy Cole was quite widely characterised as a 'one goal in five shots' striker from what I recall.

 

He's a weird one as he's so revered by many NUFC fans but as I never saw him for us I have always loathed his play.

[Mole]

Growing up he always seemed way more lethal for us than he was for Man U, but that might just be me being so young i didn't understand the game all that well. Like i'm old enough to remember both era's but to say i was old enough to process it wouldn't be accurate.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 15:44 by Mole

[Pata]

6 minutes ago, Mole said:

Growing up he always seemed way more lethal for us than he was for Man U, but that might just be me being so young i didn't understand the game all that well. Like i'm old enough to remember both era's but to say i was old enough to process it wouldn't be accurate.

 

 

 

My image of him at Man Utd was that he was a pure poacher who was a poor finisher but still scored loads due to the sheer volume of chances they created for him. Hated him as a youngster.

[Monters]

14 minutes ago, Pata said:

 

He's a weird one as he's so revered by many NUFC fans but as I never saw him for us I have always loathed his play.

Each to their own but loathed seems a bit strong!

 

His movement was outstanding both in and around the box and running beyond the backline as well... The first season in the premier league under Keegan, Cole & Sellers were practically unplayable, this may be rose tinted but had Beardsley been available all season we would have come close to winning the league. 

 

Definitely a product of his time but still an outstanding centre forward and the avalanche of goals across multiple seasons backs that up too
 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 15:55 by Monters

[Pata]

4 minutes ago, Monters said:

Each to their own but loathed seems a bit strong!

 

His movement was outstanding both in and around the box and running beyond the backline as well... The first season in the premier league under Keegan, Cole & Sellers were practically unplayable, this may be rose tinted but had Beardsley been available all season we would have come close to winning the league. 

 

Definitely a product of his time but still an outstanding centre forward and the avalanche of goals across multiple seasons backs that up too
 

 

 

 

As I said I never saw him play for NUFC and my view would probably be different I did. I’m basing everything on his time at Man Utd.

[Abacus]

2 minutes ago, Pata said:

As I said I never saw him play for NUFC and my view would probably be different I did. I’m basing everything on his time at Man Utd.

 

He was outstanding at Newcastle, and just very good at Man Utd is the way I look at him.

 

At Newcastle, though, he was a big risk when we bought him for the ASTRONOMICAL sum of £1.75m at the time.

 

But he had the perfect partner in Beardsley who actually brought the real magic and fed him the perfect passes almost every time, when he was just lethal.

 

Isak needs a Beardsley, but they're rarer than hen's teeth. Football is a team game, yes, but it's also about telepathic partnerships as well. It's maybe not our system now, but I don't really feel like we have a true number 10.

[Monters]

He was excellent for them too... It hurt like hell at first given what he'd done for us and the Keegan song etc. but performance wise his movement and goal scoring was up there...

Purely for interest how did you rate Fowler, Lineker, Van Nistlerooy etc. as they were effectively poachers as well

[Fak]

2 minutes ago, Monters said:

He was excellent for them too... It hurt like hell at first given what he'd done for us and the Keegan song etc. but performance wise his movement and goal scoring was up there...

Purely for interest how did you rate Fowler, Lineker, Van Nistlerooy etc. as they were effectively poachers as well

Surely Fowler was more than a poacher!

[Coffee_Johnny]

10 minutes ago, Monters said:

He was excellent for them too... It hurt like hell at first given what he'd done for us and the Keegan song etc. but performance wise his movement and goal scoring was up there...

Purely for interest how did you rate Fowler, Lineker, Van Nistlerooy etc. as they were effectively poachers as well

Not that other fans taking the piss should be an indicator of quality, but the standing joke of his Man Utd years was the the reason Cantona wore his collar up was he had a dirty neck from carrying Cole. 
He was better for us (an absolute phenomenon) than for them, but undoubtedly still a top class striker. Different kind of a player, but personally I wouldn’t say he was class above Isak. 

[Eveready]

Completely against any release clause myself.

 

Bruno had some leverage with 2 years left on his contract, we needed to get a deal done.

 

Isak is young, one of the best strikers in the world, irreplaceable and a lot of top clubs seem to be a world class striker away from making things click.  Even with an extortionate release clause I think they'd be interest.

[Pata]

6 minutes ago, Monters said:

He was excellent for them too... It hurt like hell at first given what he'd done for us and the Keegan song etc. but performance wise his movement and goal scoring was up there...

Purely for interest how did you rate Fowler, Lineker, Van Nistlerooy etc. as they were effectively poachers as well

 

Lineker was before my time, can't really remember peak Fowler either.

 

Van Nistelrooy is in the top 3 of my just now made up all-time overrated/boring players list (alongside Cole). I can admit that he was extremely efficient and great finisher but that style of play has never done anything for me. If you can't go past a player or never score outside of the box and most of your goals are tap-ins from inside the six yard box, I just think you are boring to watch with good intangibles/senses. I know I'm very alone with this opinion and have got pelters for it here before.  At least RvN was an elite finisher which I never saw in Man Utd Andy Cole.

[Coffee_Johnny]

14 minutes ago, Abacus said:

 

He was outstanding at Newcastle, and just very good at Man Utd is the way I look at him.

 

At Newcastle, though, he was a big risk when we bought him for the ASTRONOMICAL sum of £1.75m at the time.

 

But he had the perfect partner in Beardsley who actually brought the real magic and fed him the perfect passes almost every time, when he was just lethal.

 

Isak needs a Beardsley, but they're rarer than hen's teeth. Football is a team game, yes, but it's also about telepathic partnerships as well. It's maybe not our system now, but I don't really feel like we have a true number 10.

Everyone could do with a Beardsley! But the thought of having someone even nearly as good to link with Isak is tantalising. 

[Pata]

1 minute ago, Eveready said:

a lot of top clubs seem to be a world class striker away from making things click.  Even with an extortionate release clause I think they'd be interest.

 

Who do you think these clubs are that could also afford a 9 figure transfer fee for him? Genuinely interested. Barca and Arsenal are the main clubs that could do with a world class striker but Barca are skint and it's a lot of money for Arsenal without selling one of their key players. Arteta also seems to really rate Havertz which I understand considering the type of players they have below him and think a Martinelli replacement is more imminent than a striker if his form doesn't pick up.

[Eveready]

10 minutes ago, Pata said:

 

Who do you think these clubs are that could also afford a 9 figure transfer fee for him? Genuinely interested. Barca and Arsenal are the main clubs that could do with a world class striker but Barca are skint and it's a lot of money for Arsenal without selling one of their key players. Arteta also seems to really rate Havertz which I understand considering the type of players they have below him and think a Martinelli replacement is more imminent than a striker if his form doesn't pick up.

Arsenal, Barcelona, Juve, Real Madrid if they eventually decide Mbappe is better on the left, Bayern Munich once Kane is too old in a couple of years, Haaland wants a release clause in his new contract so Man City if he leaves.

 

Wouldn't say they're top clubs anymore but he would drastically improve Man Utd and Chelsea who could offer him significantly improved wages and despite their trajectory over the last few years, it would be naïve for us to write off any idea of our players wanting to leave to join them.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 16:45 by Eveready
Spelling

[Erikse]

2 hours ago, Dan Gleebals said:

TBF, you can say that about almost any player (getting lost in some game), even the elite ones.  Haaland is often not involved in the game, and boom, 2-3 goals.

 

Alot of Isaks form is tied to how we play as a team, although without doubt he creates a fair amount for himself.

Agree, another season of 25+ goals and he is right up there.  

 

Yeah, but we have had discussions here about his consistency in the past, and most agreed back then that his weakness up until that point of his NUFC carreer was consistency. The difference between his off and on days were way above average back then. I'm talking about his first year here, which is easy to forget, because in the last year his less good performances has usually been caused by the reasons that you mentioned.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 17:50 by Erikse

[Erikse]

1 hour ago, Pata said:

 

Who do you think these clubs are that could also afford a 9 figure transfer fee for him? Genuinely interested. Barca and Arsenal are the main clubs that could do with a world class striker but Barca are skint and it's a lot of money for Arsenal without selling one of their key players. Arteta also seems to really rate Havertz which I understand considering the type of players they have below him and think a Martinelli replacement is more imminent than a striker if his form doesn't pick up.

 

I honestly think Liverpool seem like the most likely one (still not necessarily likely), and they have proven that they sometimes like to do big money signings or bids. They may want a top class striker in the coming windows.

[timeEd32]

Release clause or not, if someone comes to the table with more than £100m we're going to be talking and he's probably going to leave. That combined with the very small number of clubs who can actually afford that is why I really don't care if he has one (this is all assuming the release clause would be at least that much; I can't imagine we'd agree to anything lower).

[BonesJones]

3 hours ago, Hovagod said:

He is never absolutely terrible, that’s ridiculous. 

 

Yup! In my opinion the only time he doesn't look his unplayable self, is when the team as a whole isn't performing.

 

If you focus on him he is constantly making great runs, but our players can't keep hold of the ball long enough to do anything, or just don't see the runs themselves.

 

Once we get going, Bruno, Tonali, even Joelinton and hopefully a creative RW down the line will feed him so well!

 

 

Edited Thursday at 18:56 by BonesJones

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I’m not sure anyone is in the market for £100m players at the moment. Maybe Real Madrid. 

[The Prophet]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I’m not sure anyone is in the market for £100m players at the moment. Maybe Real Madrid. 

 

They're more of a let their interest be known and let the player run down his contract sort of model.

[SteV]

25 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I’m not sure anyone is in the market for £100m players at the moment. Maybe Real Madrid. 

I suspect Man City probably will be given what they banked this window.

 

*outcome of court case permitting obviously