Neville: Liverpool's Isak & Wirtz 'biggest disappointments' in Newcastle draw

Gary Neville called on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak to improve after a year of "being kind to" Liverpool's £200m+ duo, but said he had faith the pair would come good despite being their "biggest disappointments" at Newcastle.

Isak played the entire 90 minutes on his first return to St James' Park since becoming the Premier League's most expensive player last summer, though offered little more than Wirtz who was substituted just after the hour mark for Alexis Mac Allister.

Both had offered hope in pre-season of better times to come after encouraging performances in Liverpool's friendlies under new boss Andoni Iraola, but neither could transfer that optimism into Sunday's league opener at St James' Park.

Speaking on the Gary Neville Podcast, Neville said: "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.

"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.

"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.

"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."

Despite their issues at St James' Park, Neville said he retained confidence the pair, who had impressed so consistently at Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen respectively, could recreate that form on Merseyside with a year each under their belts at Anfield.

"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.

"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."

'Wirtz should be closer to Isak'

Wirtz had impressed as a shadow striker in pre-season, particularly in Liverpool's eventual 3-2 defeat to Monaco a fortnight before their league opener.

But having played further away from Isak at St James Park, the 23-year-old was urged to return to that role by Neville to have a greater impact on games for the rest of the season, having contributed just eight league goal involvements since his nine-figure move from Leverkusen a year ago.

"Sometimes I think he moves around too much," he 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.

"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. He might only get the ball two or three times in that position in tight games where teams are lying deep."