Eddie Howe identifies key change in Alexander Isak that has transformed goals output
EDDIE HOWE has hailed Alexander Isak’s “incredible achievement” after the Swede became the first Newcastle United player to score in eight successive Premier League matches.
Isak scored twice as the Magpies beat Wolves 3-0 at St James’ Park last night to climb into the top four in the table for the first time this season.
Alan Shearer and Joe Willock both scored in seven successive Premier League matches for Newcastle, but neither could make it to eight.
Isak has achieved that feat, with last night’s brace meaning he has now scored 12 goals in his last ten matches in all competitions.
“It's an incredible achievement,” said Howe. “This is the hardest league in the word to score in against very good defences, especially with the fixture list that we've had so to have that level of quality that he's shown – and today's goals were very different in how they've come about.
“I think the second goal will be under-estimated, the finish, because it looks easy. It certainly wasn't, but that's his quality and his class because he always has that split-second extra to place his finish just down to the attributes and the technical ability he has.”
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While Isak has always been capable of scoring long-range crackers, the last few months have seen him become much more of an effective presence in and around the 18-yard box.
Increasingly, the Swede looks like the complete striker, technically brilliant, deceptively strong, a willing runner and a predator in the penalty box.
“He's added a lot of classic centre-forward goals,” said Howe. “Today, the first one's not, the first one, he's pick the ball up wide left and he's dribbled and the shot's taken a deflection and it's gone in, but that's down to his natural dribbling ability.
“But the second one's very much a classic number nine, in between the posts, but with a very good finish. If you look at a lot of his goals, a lot of his goals have come from crosses recently where he's in the right place at the right time.
“Goalscoring is an art form, it's about being in the right positions, but he also then has the technical quality to finish in a clam way, and not a lot of players can do that.”
Newcastle broke their transfer record to sign Isak from Real Sociedad, and while Howe was always confident his skillset would enable him to succeed in the Premier League, the Magpies boss admits there was never a guarantee he would prove as effective as he has been.
“We hoped that that would be the case,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any guarantee on that. I took a view footballing wise, watched him a lot and analysed his game. So, I felt I knew what I was getting, but you’ve got to remember he was off the back of a season where he didn’t score prolifically in Spain.
“But I took a view on that that his qualities will be aligned to the Premier League and our style, and he could be a real success here. You never have a guarantee, regardless of the price tag, then it’s up to us and Alex to make it work.
“Since day one, he’s been great to work with. I’ve loved the relationship that we’ve built. The most important thing for me is that he seems happy playing football, and if he’s happy then with the qualities he has, he will score goals.”
