Eddie Howe has voiced his concerns over Alexander Isak after another lacklustre performance on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies were handed their first loss of the season at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon, losing 3-1 to Marco Silva’s men in a defeat which sees them drop to 6th in the Premier League standings.
It only took the home side five minutes to break the deadlock through Raul Jimenez before new summer signing Emile Smith Rowe doubled the lead on the 22nd-minute mark after a winding run.
There was a glimmer of hope for a potential comeback when Harvey Barnes made it 2-1 immediately after the break but Reiss Nelson’s injury-time strike put the nail in the coffin for Howe’s side.
Despite some impressive performances already this campaign, there have been some questions raised about the side specifically their attack.
Alexander Isak’s struggles
The jewel in the crown of the team has no doubt been centre-forward Isak, with the attention around him in the summer transfer window a good representation of that.
But the Swedish attacker has struggled to regain his goalscoring form so far this campaign, scoring just the one goal so far and registering one assist.
Speaking after his side’s loss, Howe voiced his concerns surrounding Isak and ruled out any potential physical issues from being the root cause.
“He’s not as involved as we want him to be, he’s not having the impact in the games we want him to have and what he is capable of doing so hence the tactical reshuffle at half-time.” He said via the Shields Gazette.
“We tried to get players nearer to him. It’s one for me to think about.”
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