Gary Neville Critiques Liverpool's £200m Duo After St James’ Park Draw
Gary Neville did not bother with pleasantries. Reflecting on Liverpool’s 2-2 opening-weekend draw at St James’ Park on his podcast, the former Manchester United defender went straight for the jugular of Liverpool’s big-money front line.
His main targets: Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz. His main complaint: for a quarter-of-a-billion-pound pairing, they barely left a scratch.
Isak completed the full 90 minutes on Sunday. Wirtz lasted an hour before Andoni Iraola hooked him for Alexis Mac Allister, with Liverpool already labouring and chasing rhythm. Neville sensed a pattern that has gone on too long for players with such eye-watering fees attached.
“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, underlining the patience shown since their arrival last summer.
“Too nice” for the Premier League fight
The irritation, Neville suggested, comes from the gap between expectation and edge. Liverpool bought goals, chaos and ruthlessness. What they are getting, in his eyes, is something far too polite.
“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,” he continued.
That “nice” tag landed hardest on Wirtz. Neville questioned the German’s bite without questioning his touch.
“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.”
It was a brutal assessment of a duo signed to transform Liverpool’s attack. The club’s hierarchy backed them heavily last summer; the price tags alone guarantee scrutiny. Performances like Sunday’s only crank the volume.
Faith in Isak’s firepower – but time is ticking
Neville’s criticism did not come without a caveat. He still believes both forwards can hit the heights that persuaded Liverpool to spend so aggressively, and he pointed to Isak’s previous work in England as proof.
The Sweden international battled injury issues last season, yet his ceiling, Neville argued, remains obvious.
“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.
He then reached back to Isak’s days in black and white, recalling how the striker tormented some of the league’s best defences.
“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.”
That is the crux: Liverpool know what Isak can be. They just have not seen it in their colours often enough.
Iraola demands a response
There is no soft landing coming. Liverpool host Nottingham Forest next Saturday, and Iraola cannot afford another subdued outing from his marquee attackers.
Wirtz, the man tasked with threading attacks together, must sharpen his movement and positioning in the final third, linking more decisively with those around him. Isak, the finisher, has to rediscover the clinical streak that once bullied elite centre-backs.
The draw at St James’ Park has already been filed away as a missed opportunity. For Isak and Wirtz, it felt like something else too: the night patience began to run out.
Next weekend, under the Anfield lights, the price tags walk out with them again. How long before they play like it?
