Gary Neville Critiques Liverpool's £200m Duo After St James’ Park Draw
Gary Neville did not bother with diplomacy. Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast after Liverpool’s 2-2 opening-weekend draw at St James’ Park, the former defender went straight for the club’s new-look attack – and particularly the £200 million pairing of Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz.
Isak completed the full 90 minutes on Sunday. Wirtz lasted an hour before Andoni Iraola hooked him for Alexis Mac Allister as Liverpool laboured in the final third. Neville’s verdict was blunt.
“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.
Expectation has followed the pair from the moment they arrived for huge fees last summer. Liverpool have backed them, waited for them, built around them. Neville’s patience is running out.
He accused the forwards of lacking the edge required to lead a title-chasing attack, arguing that the pair are simply too soft for the role they have been bought to play.
“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 continued.
The criticism bit hardest when he turned to 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. The biggest disappointment for me [Sunday] is those two.”
For all the sting in his words, Neville did not write them off. He pointed to the levels both have already shown in their careers and, in Isak’s case, the physical issues he had to manage last season. The talent, he insisted, is not in doubt.
“I've watched them both for 12 months, and I do actually have faith in them. I think Isak's an exceptional player and we've seen it,” he said, recalling the Swede’s explosive impact in the Premier League before his move.
“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.”
There is no breathing space for Liverpool or their expensively assembled front line. Nottingham Forest visit Anfield next Saturday, and Iraola will expect a reaction, not more excuses.
Wirtz has been told he must sharpen his movement and find better pockets in the final third to knit attacks together. Isak has been challenged to rediscover his ruthless streak and turn half-chances into goals.
The price tags are not going away. The scrutiny will not ease. The question now is simple: when the whistle blows against Forest, do Isak and Wirtz finally play like £200 million forwards?
