Gary Neville's Warning to Liverpool's £200m Strike Duo
Gary Neville has warned Liverpool’s £200m strike partnership of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak that the grace period is over – but insisted he still believes they will come good.
Isak completed the full 90 minutes on his first return to St James’ Park since becoming the Premier League’s most expensive player last summer. Wirtz, by contrast, was hooked just after the hour for Alexis Mac Allister after another subdued display.
Both had teased a revival in pre-season, showing flashes of their old selves in friendlies under new head coach Andoni Iraola. On opening day under the lights at St James’ Park, that promise vanished.
On The Gary Neville Podcast, the former Manchester United defender did not hide his frustration.
“The big thing for Liverpool is they’ve got this quarter-of-a-billion-pound front two, Isak and Wirtz and bloody hell, we’ve been kind to them,” he said. “They’re going to have to start playing sooner or later or else, to be fair, they’re going to get quite a lot of criticism.
“For a start, they’re too nice, and if you’re going to be nice, you’d better be incredible at football.”
Neville then singled out Wirtz.
“I don’t see the tenacity in Wirtz in particular. I just see a nice player moving around the pitch, not really ever looking like he’s busting a gut to do anything.
“Now, that can happen. Sometimes players have that flow about them, but I want to put a rocket up him. I want to put a rocket up him because there’s ability there, there’s talent there, the understanding of his position.
“The biggest disappointment for me [Sunday] is those two.”
Faith in the price tags – but patience thinning
For all the irritation, Neville stopped short of writing them off. He has seen too much quality in Isak at Newcastle and Wirtz at Bayer Leverkusen to believe this is their level.
“I’ve watched them both for 12 months, and I do actually have faith in them,” he said. “I think Isak’s an exceptional player and we’ve seen it.
“I never saw anybody give Gabriel and Saliba or Van Dijk and Konate a tougher time as Isak did when he played at Newcastle in a black and white shirt. I’ve seen him be devastating.
“Now Liverpool fans and his team-mates and coaching staff, they need to see that – because that’s £125m they’ve spent on him.”
Wirtz, whose nine-figure move from Leverkusen a year ago was supposed to reshape Liverpool’s attack, did not escape either.
“And then Wirtz, he needs to sort himself out. Enough’s enough now, we’ve talked about him enough. He’s young and he’s come to a different country – and I’m all for willing him on.
“They have both had a bit of a free ride. Obviously Isak was injured last season but Arne Slot loses his job, and Wirtz has played like that, so let’s be clear, this has got me to start some real focus now.
“I can see a real player there, but can’t keep watching this stuff and he’s been subbed after an hour and they need a goal, but they’re 2-1 down, so no that’s not right.”
‘Be a second striker, not a wanderer’
The frustration with Wirtz is sharpened by what he showed in pre-season. Operating as a shadow striker, he looked sharp and dangerous, particularly in the 3-2 defeat to Monaco two weeks before the league opener.
At St James’ Park, he drifted away from Isak and from the areas that hurt teams. Neville wants that to change – and quickly. Eight league goal involvements in a year since that massive transfer fee is nowhere near enough.
“Sometimes I think he moves around too much,” Neville said. “Sometimes I don’t think he’s close enough to his striker, I don’t think he understands where the game’s going to be won and lost.
“When I played football and No 10s sometimes drifted too deep, or too wide, they would get a right rollicking off our manager.
“The game’s not going to be won out there, the game’s not going to be won back there, the game’s going to be won in the final third, in and around the box.
“Combining with your striker, getting crosses in, getting little passes, getting little side passes down the side of the centre-backs, being close enough to your forward so that you can combine with him. And I don’t see him combining with Isak.
“I just feel like Wirtz has got to think about being involved in the build-up less and think about being a second striker. He’s got to think about his output and what he needs to do, and that is feed Isak with little passes down the side of centre-backs. He might only get the ball two or three times in that position in tight games where teams are lying deep.”
Liverpool built their new era around this front two. The money has been spent, the excuses have largely been used up. Now the question hangs over Anfield: when does the partnership finally ignite?
