Alexander Isak had his ego bruised by Liverpool team-mate during ‘disaster’ season, says club icon

LIVERPOOL star Alexander Isak had his ego bruised by Hugo Ekitike becoming a fan favourite last season. That is according to Reds legend Jason McAteer, who labelled the Swede’s first year on Merseyside a “disaster”. Alexander Isak cost Liverpool £130million last summer Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Jason McAteer has called his debut year at Anfield a disaster Credit: Alamy The striker’s debut campaign, following his £130million British record move from Newcastle, was derailed by a broken leg in December. But McAteer also believes fellow forward Ekitike becoming a hit with the fans while Isak was out injured added to his woes. Sign up for the Football newsletter Thank you! The former Reds winger said: “He (Isak) thrives on confidence. “His career at Liverpool has been very much stop and start. He had a terrible beginning with the whole Newcastle saga, which weighed heavy on him. “It was handled terribly by everybody and in this situation it came out the worst for the player. “Obviously, later on he broke his leg which is never great and Ekitike quickly became a fan favourite, which affected his ego. “How the new manager is going to handle the Isak and Ekitike debate is going to be interesting. We will have to see how that pans out. “He has two good players he will have to choose from which is a nice problem, but Isak needs a good pre-season. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS “New manager, new playing style now and it will help him, because last season was a disaster for Isak. “Now, he gets to press the reset button and can start fresh.” Ekitike is set to be out at least until the turn of the year after rupturing his Achilles in April. Isak was in action on Sunday night and played the first half as Liverpool lost 4-2 to Leeds in a friendly. The Reds were two goals to the good at the break thanks to Luke Chambers and Florian Wirtz. But they crumbled in the second half and Dominic Calvert-Lewin found the net twice, with Brenden Aaronson and Sean Longstaff getting in on the act. Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola said: “We learn a lot of things. “Obviously it’s not the result you want but [it was] probably the most useful friendly we played – in a positive way in the first half and in a negative way in the second half. We’ve learned a lot from today.” Hugo Ekitike outshone Isak last season Credit: Getty Isak has been featuring in Liverpool’s pre-season this summer Credit: Reuters Liverpool’s loss to Leeds concludes their pre-season tour of the US and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai echoed Iraola on the need to learn from Sunday night’s defeat in Chicago. The Reds shipped two of their goals from set-pieces as part of a second-half collapse that saw them concede four times in 25 minutes. Szoboszlai said: “We have to take care more at set-pieces. “Obviously, last season was a season as well where everything started to be really important – corners, long throw-ins – so we really have to take care of it, because the next season is going to be the same like last season.” McAteer was speaking on behalf of Betarades Comment now