Liverpool striker Alexander Isak will be laid up for two months with a broken ankle and fibula from a tackle that coach Arne Slot described as reckless on Tuesday.
Isak had surgery on Monday, two days after he was injured in the act of scoring the opening goal of a 2-1 win over Tottenham in the Premier League.
“It’s going to be a long injury, for a couple of months,” Slot said. “It’s a big disappointment for him and, as a result, for us.
“This was, for me, a reckless challenge. I’ve said a lot about the tackle of Xavi Simons (who was sent off for dragging his studs down the calf of Virgil van Dijk in the same game) which for me was completely unintentional.
“I don’t think you will ever get an injury out of a tackle like that. But the tackle of (Micky) van de Ven (on Isak), if you make a tackle like that 10 times, 10 times there is a serious chance the player gets a serious injury.”
Van de Ven slid into Isak and trapped his shooting foot just after he’d shot.
TV analyst and Liverpool great Jamie Carragher defended Van de Ven.
“There’s a lot been made about a lot of the challenges in the game from Tottenham players and a lot of them weren’t clever,” Carragher told Sky Sports on Monday.
“I’ve put myself in Van de Ven’s position and that’s a challenge I’d probably make. He’s trying to block it, it’s just the follow through. I don’t know where else anyone thinks his foot’s going to go. He has to make that challenge. You can’t let the striker just get a shot away there in that situation.
“It’s just really bad luck for Isak. It’s probably one of the first glimpses we’ve seen of his real quality in a Liverpool shirt.”
Slot was doubly disappointed for Isak because the Sweden international was just getting up to speed.
The $170 million British record signing didn’t have a preseason because of his dispute with Newcastle then his fitness was set back by a groin injury in October.
Liverpool was patiently building him up and he’d started five of the last nine games but Slot, who expects Isak back before the end of the season, doesn’t believe he’ll be as sharp as he was last season for Newcastle.
“It’s been a really challenging and difficult period for him. Usually when you join a new club – he was very excited as well – you want to show all the qualities you have but that was simply impossible,” Slot said.
“Maybe no one understands but if you haven’t trained on a serious level for three or four months with the team and you are playing in this league you have to be on top of your game to impact a game of football.
“That took months because there was no preseason, just games, games, games and hardly any time to train. We all knew it would take him time and that’s why he is so unlucky he is now injured because we all saw with his goal against West Ham and with this goal (against Tottenham) he gets closer and closer to the player he was last season at Newcastle.”