After scoring three goals in the last two Premier League games in March, scoring six points for the team, the 75 million Newcastle champion Isaac gradually won the recognition of fans.
He scored one more goal after coming off the bench in this round, scoring seven goals in just 12 Premier League games this season, scoring every 104 minutes, making him third on the efficiency list after Haaland and Fimirno.
01. Scoring on his debut at the age of 16: I just want to go to class after the game
a. 16-year-old debut goal: I'm going to go to class first
Isaac, born on 21 September 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden, is a descendant of immigrants from Africa. His parents are Eritreans, and Isaac has great physical talent.
He made his professional debut in 2016, when Isaac was just 16 years old and got a start for Swiss Premier League side AIK Solna.
He scored his first goal in the first game, and Isaac was surrounded by a crowd of media after the game. "I'm tired, go first, I still have to go to class."
It was with this mentality that he turned down an offer from Real Madrid at the age of 17 and chose to join Borussia Dortmund, because Isaac felt that there he had a better chance of entering the first team.
b. From Eredivisie to La Liga: Breaking the defense of Barça and Real Madrid and later the Premier League
However, he did not really succeed in the Bundesliga, but was loaned out to Willem II in the Eredivisie.
Scoring 12 goals in 12 games in half a season, Isaac, who is only 19 years old, has attracted a lot of attention.
Roberto Olabe, then technical director of Real Sociedad, made a seamless, grand plan to persuade him to join.
It is unbearable that when they have a high probability of finishing in the top four of La Liga this season, Isaac was sold by the team to Newcastle United in the Premier League for the first time in the team's history.
The reason why we can impress Newcastle with such a large transfer fee is because Isaac has been really successful in La Liga in previous years.
In the 2019-20 season, he not only scored 17 goals in La Liga, but also scored against Barcelona and scored twice at the Bernabeu away to Real Madrid to knock his opponents out of the Copa del Rey.
In the La Liga match with Barca at the beginning of the season, despite the team's loss, Isaac took advantage of De Jong's mistake to crush Garcia and break Barca's defense, which is still fresh in the memory.
His outstanding performance made Isaac selected for the Swedish national team early, wearing the number 10 and becoming an important member of the team.
Especially on the way to bid farewell to Ibrahimovic, he needs to carry the burden.
02. Integration into the Newcastle system: Goal efficiency is second only to third in the Premier League
a. 730 minutes Premier League match: 7 goals
Isaac was somewhat embarrassed by his position on the pitch, with Newcastle boss Eddie Howe placing him in the role of pseudo-nine.
Although Isaac has average back ability, he is quick to turn around with the ball, which is conducive to unlocking Newcastle's advantage in the back row to plug in the catch. Especially Isaac is in Newcastle's front court, relatively speaking, he is also the player with the best passing awareness and vision.
In the last two Premier League games in March, Isaac scored three goals, giving the team a directly valuable six points.
Especially against Nottingham Forest, he scored two goals in first-half stoppage time to help Newcastle reverse the victory. The goal in the first half fully demonstrated Isaac's no-ball movement, and he scored after outflanking (the second half was a penalty shot after creating his own).
Looking at the free-kick attack this time, Trippier did not shoot but sent a straight block, and Isaac quickly turned after winning the ball.
This move is his strength, and at the same time he shoots efficiently. Unfortunately, in the end, a little unlucky, the ball smashed on the beam and popped out.
b. Not fast enough to rush forward: Strive to meet the coach's requirements with sprints
So far this season, Isaac has played 730 minutes of Premier League games and scored seven goals, with an efficiency of one goal per 104 minutes, ranking third in the Premier League behind Haaland and Roberto Firmino.
Due to injuries and other effects, Isaac once faded out as a starter, but after returning healthy, he is still a very important player for Newcastle.
Isaac has 2 deficiencies as a sudden leader, the first is that his strength is not superior when he is back, and he cannot do a good job of fulcrum work.
The second is that he is a 1.9m big man after all, and although he is quite fast with the ball, he is definitely not very fast. This time on the counter-attack Guimarães broke the ball and went straight at it, Isaac tried to get up but was spoiled by a tackle by Lisandro Martinez.
As a pseudo-nine, Isaac has a strong retraction, and he likes to go back to midfield and pick up the ball in the middle circle and start speeding.
However, in the Premier League, his passing efficiency is still too low, and the success rate of passing is only 37%, which is a problem.
It is worth mentioning that this season's sprint statistics for Newcastle in the Premier League are the first in the Premier League. Isaac himself ranks 35th among Premier League players in sprints per 90 minutes.
Team manager Eddie Howe said: "Isaac will meet the requirements of the team and we will help him to do it. "In the last game against West Ham United, Isaac, who did not give up, seized on a mistake by opposing goalkeeper Fabianski and scored an easy goal.
03. Individual performance is lower than expected: Try to integrate more into the team
a. Poor performance by passing the ball: making up for it by passing
Against Nottingham Forest, Isaac scored twice to be the biggest contributor to the team's 2-1 comeback. However, he failed all 8 passing attempts in the game, which also made people sigh.
At the same time, he performed well on the defensive end, contributing 4 saves. It has to be said that the attacker, who was originally known for his individual ability, played more like a team player at Newcastle.
Isaac likes to push with the ball, but it doesn't work well in the Premier League. Especially in Newcastle, there are a lot of players who can do this, which will make him even more embarrassed.
Still, Isaac is valuable in pulling back to get the ball because he turns quickly and has good flexibility.
Taking advantage of his quick turns, attracting the attention of the defense and completing the scoring can have a good effect. Manchester United's defensive characteristic is that all players are retreated. Center Verhorst goes to the back and is also a coaching label for Ten Hag.
Through Isaac's retreat to get the ball, quickly turn around and change direction under the feet, although the pass is a little backward, but it also makes the Manchester United defense unable to move in time, giving Scheer more room to operate.
This long-range shot is slightly deflected, but it can also understand Isaac's value as part of the pseudo-nine.
At the same time, when Newcastle counterattacked, Isaac scored the ball and scored the ball, which was relatively good. In particular, he also actively participated in the defense, which is conducive to the overall offensive and defensive conversion, but it is a pity that this time Jolrington's shooting quality is average.
b. Active participation in defense
As you can see from the heat map, Isaac has a large range of motion. However, his 39% one-on-one success rate and 37% pass success rate are still a bit embarrassing.
Fortunately, he is still very comfortable with Eddie Howe's high-position pressing ideas, and he is very invested in the defensive end.
As a big man, he's still pretty fast (but not quite fast). Especially with a pair of long legs, entangled by Isaac, the opponent will be very uncomfortable.
This wave of high pressing, Isaac alone directly made Manchester United's backfield busy. From pressing the goalkeeper to pressing the defender, bringing back a front-court touchline opportunity.
Able to score goals and defend, Isaac has also found his niche at Newcastle. The team recently won four straight in the Premier League and is getting closer to next season's Champions League.
The fact that they can snatch the top four from the BIG6 is Newcastle's biggest success. In the words of the famous Antonio Conte: The top four in the Premier League are equivalent to a championship.
Conclusion:
Isaac, born in September 1999, is not very young. At the age of 23, it should be time for him to make results.
After all, this is his first year in the Premier League, and I believe that in the days to come, he will continue to improve, grow with Newcastle and play at a better level in European competition next season.