Alexander Isak fitness claim as Newcastle United star responds to ‘harsh’ criticism
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Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak responded to criticism from the Swedish media by playing an important role in his country’s 5-0 win over Azerbaijan on Monday.
The 23-year-old’s performance in a 3-0 home defeat to Belgium four days earlier failed to impress the home media, who questioned why his form didn’t match his recent success on Tyneside.
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Hide AdThat was put to Sweden boss Janne Andersson and he jumped to Isak’s defence. Andersson labelled the criticism harsh and referenced the £60million-rated star’s game time, which has been restricted this season due to a thigh issue.
“I think the expression failure is quite harsh to talk about based on how it was on Friday,” said Andersson speaking ahead of the Azerbaijan match.
“If he played 20 matches in a row in the Premier League and did well, we could probably raise the demands on him. But where he comes from now, he is not one hundred per-cent match-wise.
“He has played two matches now where he has scored a great headed goal in one and a fantastic volley finish in the other. But overall, if you look at playing time backwards, we probably shouldn’t put that pressure on him right now.
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Hide Ad“I have high hopes that Alex, if he is whole and healthy, will be able to be a supporter in the national team.”
The Swedish press could have few complaints over Isak’s display yesterday. The former Real Sociedad man had an early goal ruled out for offside before grabbing an assist when his cross was turned into his own net by Bahlul Mustafazada.
Most importantly for Eddie Howe’s side, Isak came through 70 minutes unscathed. Isak is set to start against Manchester United at St James’ Park on Sunday (kick-off 4:30pm) and look to build on his impressive goal record of six Premier League goals in just 622 minutes.
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