Aresnal's Alexander Isak, as he's known in the Sky Sports studio, continues to blow minds with his goal-scoring and general play with Alan Shearer calling him 'world-class' on Match of the Day.
Even though Danny Murphy and Gary Lineker downplayed the 'world-class' title, Newcastle United fans definitely agree with Shearer's assessment.
Alexander Isak's brace at the weekend against Southampton was about as 'world-class' as it gets. His penalty was a showcase for that ice that runs through his veins, and then that first touch to knock the ball into his path to fire home his second was simply sensational.
It's not just Isak's goalscoring that is impressive, however, it's his all-round game. His running, his positioning and his amazing ball control.
Newcastle had one of the best dribblers in the Premier League recently in the form of cult hero Allan Saint-Maximin. The things he would do with the ball at his feet were phenomenal, his downfall was not knowing what to do with it after doing a fancy trick.
Dan Burn has now compared Isak to Saint-Maximin in terms of his dribbling ability when asked by The Northern Echo how valuable Isak is to Newcastle.
"It's for the owners to say, but he's priceless to us. The way he moves - you come up against special players, but there's nobody out there that dribbles the way he dribbles.
"Allan Saint-Maximin was something different, and he was probably the best dribbler I've ever played with. But you just have to look at the quality (of Isak), it's not just dribbling for the sake of it.
"He's on fire at the moment, probably one of the best strikers in the world at the moment. It's hard because it's hard to defend just the way he moves. He moves his feet quickly, but his top half doesn't really move."
Did Burn just have a thinly veiled pop at Maxi there with "it's not just dribbling for the sake of it"? It certainly felt like it. Whether or not it was, it's so true. Maxi always felt as though he was just showboating for the sake of it, as his end product was, more often than not, severely lacking.
With Isak, there always seems to be a purpose to what he does. There are still areas of his game that need work, for sure, but that's what Premier League teams should be worried about because the fact that he can still get even better should terrify them.
It already seems like he's been working on his one-v-ones looking at Saturday's goal and that has been a bit issue for him this season.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
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25 | 36 | 60 |
2 |
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25 | 29 | 53 |
3 |
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25 | 12 | 47 |
4 |
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25 | 17 | 44 |
5 |
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25 | 15 | 43 |
6 |
![]() |
25 | 13 | 43 |
7 |
![]() |
25 | 9 | 41 |
8 |
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25 | 5 | 39 |
9 |
![]() |
25 | -3 | 38 |
10 |
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25 | 0 | 37 |
11 |
![]() |
25 | 1 | 34 |
12 |
![]() |
25 | 12 | 30 |
13 |
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25 | -3 | 30 |
14 |
![]() |
25 | -4 | 30 |
15 |
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25 | -7 | 29 |
16 |
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25 | -18 | 27 |
17 |
![]() |
25 | -19 | 19 |
18 |
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25 | -27 | 17 |
19 |
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25 | -30 | 17 |
20 |
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25 | -38 | 9 |