Gary Neville's Warning to Liverpool's £200m Duo Isak and Wirtz

Gary Neville has warned Liverpool’s £200m front pair Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak that the grace period is over – and that “being nice” will not protect them from the criticism coming their way.

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, who cost a nine-figure fee from Bayer Leverkusen, lasted just over an hour before making way for Alexis Mac Allister in Sunday’s league opener.

Both had teased a revival in pre-season, showing flashes of their old selves in friendlies under new head coach Andoni Iraola. The promise vanished when the real stuff started on Tyneside.

On the Gary Neville Podcast, the former Manchester United defender did not bother sugar-coating it.

“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’s main concern centred on Wirtz, who drifted through the game without ever grabbing it.

“I don't see the tenacity in Wirtz in particular,” he added. “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 talent – but patience running thin

For all the frustration, Neville stopped short of writing them off. He has seen too much quality from both to believe this is who they really are.

“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.”

If Isak, in Neville’s eyes, has a clear track record of tormenting elite centre-backs, Wirtz is the one who now needs to stare hard at his own game.

“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’

Pre-season hinted at a solution. Wirtz looked sharp as a shadow striker, especially in Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat to Monaco two weeks before the league campaign began. He played off the front, close to Isak, linking and breaking lines.

At St James’ Park he drifted away from that role, and his impact faded with every touch that came too deep or too wide.

The numbers underline the problem. Since arriving from Leverkusen a year ago, Wirtz has managed just eight league goal involvements. Not nearly enough for a player signed to transform Liverpool’s attack.

“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.”

Neville’s prescription for Wirtz is blunt: stop trying to be everywhere, and start living where it hurts.

“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 said. “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 did not spend a quarter of a billion pounds on a front two to watch them float around the edges of games. At some point, the price tag has to show up on the pitch – and for Isak and Wirtz, that moment is fast approaching.