Liverpool's Flaws Resurface in Newcastle Clash
Liverpool’s old flaws, the ones they hoped had been buried with a £100 million signing and a new man in the dugout, walked straight back through the front door at St James’ Park.
Pat Nevin summed it up on BBC Radio 5 Live: “You can see the weaknesses that Liverpool had last season have not gone away.” On this evidence, they’ve been amplified.
Midfield wide open – again
Andoni Iraola rolled the dice. He stationed Florian Wirtz as a No 10, in front of a flimsy midfield two of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. It looked risky on paper. On grass, it was worse.
Even against a Newcastle side stripped of their most dangerous forward and two best midfielders over the summer, Liverpool were alarmingly easy to slice through. Every turnover felt like an invitation.
Gravenberch and Szoboszlai are talented, technically sharp, progressive. But they are not destroyers. They prefer the game in front of them, running towards goal, not chasing runners behind. That imbalance was brutally exposed within five minutes.
Both were high up the pitch, inside the Newcastle box, when the hosts broke. One pass, then another, and Liverpool’s midfield vanished from the picture. Anthony Elanga finished off the move to make it 1-0, the kind of transition goal Liverpool conceded repeatedly last season. The kind they were supposed to have grown out of.
The pattern didn’t stop there. Cody Gakpo dragged Liverpool level, only for the visitors to unravel again almost immediately. Just 176 seconds after the equaliser, Joe Willock restored Newcastle’s lead, punishing more slack positioning and loose organisation. Different scorer, same story.
Iraola forced into early calls
Falling behind for a second time jolted Iraola into action. He went to his bench, sending on Alexis Mac Allister and new signing Victor Munoz for Wirtz and Ngumoha.
Munoz, direct and willing to run at people, injected something Liverpool had been missing. His aggression brought reward when he won the penalty that allowed Szoboszlai to snatch a draw.
Ngumoha’s night was harsher. Asked to step in for Mohamed Salah on the right despite preferring the left, the youngster was handed a task that bordered on impossible. Replacing an icon, out of position, in a malfunctioning team: it was a thankless assignment.
Wirtz drifts, questions grow
Sympathy was in shorter supply for Wirtz. Liverpool supporters have given the Germany international time and patience. They are still waiting for payback.
Before the season started, Jamie Carragher used his Daily Telegraph column to lay down a challenge to the £100m signing: show you are more than “neat and tidy”. This was the kind of fixture, away to a weakened Newcastle, where Wirtz was supposed to grab the game and bend it to his will.
He never came close. Yes, he managed one of Liverpool’s rare shots on target in the first half, but that lone moment couldn’t disguise a larger issue. It is becoming harder to see exactly where he fits.
On the left wing, he has often looked stranded, disconnected from the game. Given a role in his supposed best position here, he still struggled to stamp any authority on the contest. The player who arrived at Anfield to such fanfare last summer remains on the periphery, drifting through matches that were meant to showcase his talent.
Isak struggles, alarm bells ring
On the opposite side, Alexander Isak’s return to Newcastle turned into a non-event. The Swede lacked service for long stretches, but when his big chance finally arrived midway through the second half, he snatched at it, ballooning the ball over the bar. The home fans roared with laughter. Liverpool’s didn’t.
Between Wirtz’s anonymity and Isak’s ineffectiveness, there is nothing remotely amusing for Liverpool in this picture. These were the two marquee buys, the nine-figure investments earmarked to push them back towards Champions League glory. A year on, both are labouring against middling Premier League opposition.
The problems run deeper than two misfiring stars. Every line of the team creaked on Tyneside. Milos Kerkez endured a torrid evening. Jeremie Frimpong was no better. The defensive shield in front of them didn’t exist often enough to matter.
All of which points in one direction: the transfer window. Liverpool clearly need more, and they need it quickly. But the uncomfortable reality is that the club has already spent huge sums on players who were supposed to solve these issues. Right now, they’re adding to them.
A long season, but a short fuse
There is time, of course. The season has barely started. Iraola is only just beginning the job of rebuilding a side that staggered to fifth last term and finished empty-handed. Szoboszlai was right to stress the positives of coming from behind twice to take a point.
Yet the mood around two of the club’s biggest assets is shifting. This was another night when Wirtz and Isak were meant to show they could lead Liverpool out of last season’s mess.
Instead, they walked straight into it. How long will Liverpool wait for their expensive answers to start looking like solutions?
