The attackers are tall. There is something magical about them. Watching them tear up the field with their runs, jump over the defense to launch a powerful header, and have duels with defenders of the same stature is a sight to behold. Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo are some of the famous names. Then there is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede was one of the best players of the century and has been going strong for 40 years now. So, when the Swede lavished praise on a 17-year-old, the world took notice.
“I’ve seen him in play, he’s fantastic,” Ibrahimovic said, and now Alexander Isaacs has taken the helm from Ibra to Sweden.
The 21-year-old claims to have become his heir to the Sweden national football team. Alexander Isak, nicknamed ‘the new Zlatan Ibrahimovic’, is one of Europe’s hottest realtors and is almost certain to move to a top club in the summer transfer window.
Arsenal are chasing the former Borussia Dortmund player, who made a name for himself in the 2020-21 season and then the European Championship, who wants him to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Alexander Isaacs height is 1.90 meters, he has a lot of similarities with Ibrahimovic. They are both tall, technically talented, very dangerous on the box and love to find the back of the net.
So, what do the numbers say about the brilliant young man?
statistics
Isak is a great goalscorer and is involved in the offensive building of the team. smartscott, Which rates the player between 0-99 on different attributes, gave him a 98 and 95 for dribbling and shooting, respectively.
This is a rare feature for a real striker. He also has a respected rating of 60 when it comes to championing quality.
These evaluations come in a season in which he suffered with only four goals and made one goal in his name.
Even in the Europa League, he has a rating of 99 for shooting and 82 for dribbling, something that commands respect for a highly anticipated young talent.
stats from fbref Confirm this too. Isaacs has had 3.6 dribbles per 90 minutes in the last 365 days, putting him in the top eight percent compared to the other strikers. Furthermore, his dribbling completion rate of 1.61 per 90 minutes is much better than 85 percent of attackers.
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Alexander Isaacs is also very good at taking advantage of the distance between defenders to disrupt their rhythm.
However, he is in the opponent’s territory where he does all his magic. Snapshot map Anderstat It gives us a better understanding of his supreme offensive talent. Since the 2017-2018 season, Isca has scored 29 goals; 18 was from the penalty area, while seven and four goals came from the six yards and outside the penalty area.
Another key thing to note is that he scored 17 goals with his right foot and nine with his left foot. Which is his goals from his left foot where he showed the performance, and scored 2.22 goals more than expected.
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The breakthrough of the 2020-21 season and the dirty 2021-22 season
It’s no secret that Isaacs has seen a massive drop in form this season, but it has happened to many players, and his previous season shows why he has earned this rating.
In the previous season, he showed himself as a full-fledged striker, scoring 17 goals which represented 28 percent of the goals of the entire team.
He also ranked fifth in terms of expected goals (xG) in the league, according to Sucrement.
He was also ranked as the 4th best La Liga player in offensive value added (OVA).
His 0.65 goals in 90 minutes was the 10th best in the league, ahead of Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix and Iago Aspas.
His stats were even better when it came to goals without penalty kicks, finishing fourth in the entire league, ahead of players like Luis Suarez, Vinicius Jr, Joselo and Santi Mina.
However, his stats this season have crumbled as has his performance. Compared to the previous season, he has been ranked lower in terms of goals scored without penalty kicks and touches in the penalty area and his stats are lower when it comes to goals scored per 90 minutes, assists and minute passes.
But since he’s 22 years old, he can make Count. Moreover, looking at his map captured from this season, we can make important notes. This season, Isak made 28 shots from inside the penalty area and scored three goals.
However, the goalkeeper only missed four shots while the rest were either blocked or blocked. Of course, it’s still worrisome that he can’t find the back of the net, but the accuracy of his shot is still high, which means he can restore or even surpass the previous season’s highs with a bit of luck.
Why should teams sign Alexander Isaac?
It’s no secret that many teams will be competing for a striker position in the summer. These teams include Barcelona, Real Madrid (based on the transfer of Kylian Mbappe), Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, etc. Even teams like Bayern Munich might consider him a good backup for Robert Lewandowski.
3 – Alexander Isaacs (21 years 153 days) became the youngest player to score a hat-trick Tweet embed La Liga in the twenty-first century. giant. pic.twitter.com/nKCjMkp7rz
– OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 21, 2021
And in Alexander Isaacs, they have a player who can become the next great thing with the right training. The Swede is not only a striker who scores goals but can also be deeply involved in the team’s team play. In addition, he is a natural dribbler and as such will provide more flexibility to the team’s front line.
His heatmap, from the previous and current seasons, shows that he loves to roam around the field, looking to conjure up the perfect attack.
For a player of his height, Isak is highly mobile, which places him in a rare breed of players of tall stature blessed with the skills typically seen in players of meager stature.
He is still only 21 and could improve a lot in the next two or three years with proper training.
Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are the superstars who are at the forefront of the next generation. But many others will look to join them as the best of their era, and Alexander Isaacs should hope to be one of the first to do so.
