Simon Jordan hits out at Michael Owen over judgement of £125m Liverpool star

Aug 24, 2026 - 15:30

Alexander Isak has been defended by Simon Jordan following criticism of his performance in Liverpool’s season opener.

The talkSPORT co-host believes pundits such as Michael Owen must wait more than one match before writing off the Reds striker.

Alexander Isak looks on during Liverpool's draw with Newcastle United — Isak has been defended by Jordan after an underwhelming display against Newcastle

Isak has come under fire following Sunday’s 2-2 draw away at Newcastle United.

The Sweden international failed to find the target during a frustrating return to his former club.

It leaves Isak with just four goals in 23 appearances for Liverpool since his £125million move to Anfield last summer.

Owen is amongst those who have criticised his performance at St. James’ Park, admitting the forward is ‘running out of excuses’.

What did Michael Owen say?

The former Liverpool and Newcastle striker joined Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist on Monday’s talkSPORT Breakfast show.

He admitted: “I had plenty of injuries in my career. So I know how hard it is to get back and you do need a bit of time.

“Everybody’s given him time and understood that, but when he’s sort of finished the season then gone to the World Cup and now he’s had a pre-season, you just think ‘ok now we’re starting to run out of excuses’.

“We need to start seeing the real Isak and we know how good he is. We saw him for Newcastle, he’s absolute class, but we haven’t seen it for Liverpool just yet. I think questions will come now.

“As I say, always give him the benefit of the doubt in the past with Liverpool, but at the start of this season, now we’re expecting and Liverpool absolutely need him.
“They’ve lost (Mohamed) Salah, (Hugo) Ekitike is out. There’s not that many options in attacking areas. They absolutely need him to be on top form.

“Yesterday, he was far from it. I thought he was a yard off and that’s worrying.”

Jordan responds to Isak criticism

However, Jordan has hit out at Owen’s stance, claiming Isak cannot be judged on one match.

He responded to the comments on White & Jordan, explaining: “I think that’s relatively ridiculous what Michael said. He’s had one game this season. Ok, he’s been injured the majority of last season.

“Started poorly because of his own behaviour, because of Newcastle’s failure to manage the situation better and Liverpool’s inability to come to the table and do a deal properly.

“It all became a situation that drew it out when he behaved poorly. He then had a collision injury. So he’s injured himself. He’s now fit, he’s had one game. We can’t judge him.

“When we get to the end of August and he’s played three or four games and he stunk the place out, then we can start saying what Michael said.

“Which is, ‘of course he’s got to start performing, but he’s been injured’. He’s been injured, so we’ve got no reference point.

“We’ve got nothing to really say about what he did at Liverpool because he had no real run in the team.

“If Liverpool aren’t going to play in a way that suits the player that they’ve bought, which is get the ball to him, then I’m not entirely sure what you’re supposed to do.

“What’s he supposed to do? Pick the ball up on the edge of his own 18-yard box and run the length of the pitch and someone’s going to be happy with that.”

Jordan added: “The question for me is, big game players would have embraced that opportunity yesterday and gone back to Newcastle and wanted to prove a point. So is he a big, big game player?”

Isak missed a total of 141 days through injury during his debut season with Liverpool.

Those lay-offs included a four-month absence with a broken fibula at the turn of the year.