Arne Slot's Bold Decision on Isak Under Fire After PSG Defeat
Arne Slot walked into Anfield on Tuesday night needing something close to perfect. He left with his judgement, as much as his team, under heavy fire.
At the heart of the storm: his decision to start Alexander Isak.
Hamann leads the criticism
“If a player hasn’t featured for three months then faces the best team in Europe, he should be on the bench,” Dietmar Hamann told Sky, clearly stunned that Isak’s name appeared on the teamsheet from the start.
The context made the call even bolder. Isak had been out from late December to early April, then dipped his toe back into action with only a brief appearance in last week’s first leg in Paris, a 2–0 defeat. Suddenly, in the return at Anfield, he was leading the line against a Paris Saint-Germain side that has been ruthless in this competition.
Slot’s reasoning did little to convince Hamann.
“He doesn’t want to use him as a sub because he might not have enough energy for extra time. Honestly, I’ve always respected Slot, but I’ve never heard of this approach. It might have happened somewhere, but not in the Champions League.”
Slot had explained that he preferred to start Isak rather than risk throwing him into a draining extra 30 minutes from the bench. The plan, he said, was to manage the Swede’s minutes carefully.
“Playing 45 minutes and then assessing at half-time whether he could add five or ten more was an option,” the Liverpool manager said.
A plan that never took hold
On the pitch, the theory never truly translated into threat. Slot defended the decision by pointing out that Isak “came close to scoring twice”. One of those moments, though, was wiped out by an offside flag before PSG goalkeeper Matvey Safonov denied him.
“He was ready. If I’d felt he wasn’t ready, he wouldn’t have played,” Slot insisted.
The numbers offer a harsher backdrop. Liverpool spent €145 million to prise the 26-year-old from Newcastle United last summer. In return, he has produced three goals in 19 appearances. On a night when Liverpool needed a statement from their record signing, he lasted only 45 minutes before Cody Gakpo replaced him.
The contrast was immediate, at least in the eyes of another former Liverpool player.
The Dutchman “did more in the first five minutes than Isak did in the whole first half,” Stephen Warnock told the BBC, laying bare his doubts over Slot’s selection. Warnock went further, describing Isak as “nowhere near fit” and “non-existent” at Anfield.
“And he [Slot] thinks he can throw him on against PSG, in the biggest game of the season against the best team in Europe, and get a performance out of him in 45 minutes?” the 44-year-old asked, the question hanging over Slot’s judgement as much as Isak’s conditioning.
Missed moment, ruthless response
Liverpool’s margin for error was already thin after being outplayed and beaten 2–0 in Paris. Anfield demanded a surge, a famous European pushback. For half an hour, the noise matched the need.
Then came the moment that could have cracked the tie open. A set-piece, a scramble, and suddenly Virgil van Dijk staring at a golden chance to tilt the night Liverpool’s way. His effort beat the goalkeeper, but not Marquinhos. The PSG captain threw himself back and hooked the ball off the line, a clearance that felt as big as a goal.
From there, the pattern hardened. Paris did not just protect their advantage; they extended it with clinical edge. Ousmane Dembélé struck twice, a brace that silenced Anfield and sealed a second 2–0 win, home and away. Liverpool’s Champions League run ended without a fightback, without a twist, just a blunt, decisive exit.
Pressure mounting on Slot
For Slot, the damage goes beyond one knockout tie. Pressure had been building despite last season’s English league title. This defeat, at home, in this manner, sharpens every question.
The 47-year-old’s long-term future at Liverpool is now under serious scrutiny. Selection calls like Isak’s start are no longer just tactical debates; they are folded into a wider judgement on whether Slot is the man to lead the next phase.
The immediate task is clear. With Europe gone, Liverpool must cling to the Champions League places for next season. They sit fifth, a position that still offers a route back into the competition thanks to the Premier League’s newly awarded fifth berth. But the cushion is slim: four points over sixth-placed Chelsea, who now represent the cut-off for elite European entry, with six matches left.
And the run-in is unforgiving. Trips to Everton and Manchester United, where emotion and hostility are guaranteed. A visit to fourth-placed Aston Villa, one of the league’s most coherent sides. At Anfield, Chelsea arrive with their own ambitions, and seventh-placed Brentford still harbour faint hopes of crashing the Champions League party.
The margins are tight, the fixtures brutal, the questions loud. Slot backed Isak on the biggest night of Liverpool’s season and came up empty. With the club’s European future on the line, how many more of those calls can he afford to get wrong?
