Gary Neville has not been shy about expressing his disappointment with Liverpool’s two marquee signings, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, after their underwhelming performances in the opening match of the season at St James' Park. While he acknowledges the talent and potential that justified the club’s hefty investment of more than £200 million in the duo, Neville warned that the pair must start delivering results soon or risk facing relentless criticism from fans and pundits alike. In the first league game back at Newcastle’s historic ground, Isak completed the full 90 minutes, marking his return to St James' Park since his record-breaking transfer last summer.
Despite playing the entire match, the Swedish striker offered little beyond the occasional touch, failing to replicate the decisive impact he displayed during his spell with Newcastle United. Wirtz, on the other hand, was taken off after just over an hour of play for Alexis Mac Allister, a substitution that underscored the frustration surrounding his performance. Both forwards entered the season with high expectations after impressing during pre‑season friendlies under Liverpool’s new manager, Andoni Iraola. Their displays against various European opponents suggested a bright future, but that optimism evaporated quickly when the Premier League fixture arrived.
Neville, speaking on his own podcast, lamented the gap between promise and delivery. "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," Neville 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." He singled out Wirtz for particular scrutiny, noting a lack of visible tenacity on the pitch.
"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," Neville observed. "Now, that can happen.
Sometimes players have that flow about them, but I want to put a rocket up him because there's ability there, there's talent there, the understanding of his position." Neville admitted that both players represent the biggest disappointment of the day, but he also stressed that he still believes in their underlying quality. He reminded listeners that Isak had been a nightmare for Liverpool’s own defenders—Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté, Gabriel and Jules Kanga—when he featured for Newcastle in a black‑and‑white shirt.
"I never saw anybody give Gabriel and Saliba or Van Dijk and Konaté a tougher time as Isak did when he played at Newcastle," Neville said. "I've seen him be devastating." Regarding the financial stakes, Neville reminded fans that Liverpool have already spent roughly £125 million on Isak alone. "Now Liverpool fans and his teammates and coaching staff, they need to see that – because that's £125 million they've spent on him," he warned.
"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." Neville also touched on the broader context of their underperformance.
He noted that Isak missed much of the previous season due to injury, while Wirtz has struggled to adapt to the physicality and pace of English football. "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," Neville said.
He criticized the tactical setup that has left Wirtz drifting too far from the striker, reducing his effectiveness in the final third. "Sometimes I think he moves around too much," Neville explained. "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." He urged Wirtz to adopt a more defined role as a second striker, feeding Isak with incisive passes and staying nearer to the opposition’s centre‑backs. "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," Neville advised. "He might only get the ball two or three times in that position in tight games where teams are lying deep." Neville’s criticism is not merely a rebuke; it’s a call to action for the Liverpool coaching staff. He believes that with a year of experience at Anfield under their belts, both players can still fulfill the expectations that justified their record fees. "I've watched them both for 12 months, and I do actually have faith in them," he affirmed.
"I think Isak's an exceptional player and we've seen it." In summary, Neville’s message is clear: Liverpool’s front‑two have the talent to be world‑class, but talent alone will not suffice. The club must find a way to harness their abilities, tighten their tactical discipline, and demand the kind of relentless effort that turns potential into performance. Until then, the pair will continue to be labelled as Liverpool’s biggest disappointments, and the pressure from supporters, media and the club hierarchy will only intensify.
The upcoming fixtures will be a true test of whether Wirtz and Isak can rise to the occasion and justify the massive investment that brought them to Anfield.