Neville Tears Into Liverpool's £200m Duo Wirtz and Isak

Neville went straight for the jugular, ripping into the pair after their showing at St James' Park. Isak, the Premier League's most expensive player, got the full 90 in his first trip back to his old stomping grounds. Wirtz, meanwhile? Hooked after an hour.

On his podcast, the Sky Sports oracle didn't mince words. 'They're going to have to start playing sooner or later,' Neville warned, 'or else they're going to get quite a lot of criticism.' He wasn't subtle about his worry over Wirtz. 'A nice player moving around the pitch,' he scoffed, 'not really ever looking like he's busting a gut to do anything.' Ouch.

Still, it wasn't all doom and gloom. Neville, surprisingly, threw a lifeline. He still rates them, apparently. Remember Isak's days in a black and white shirt at Newcastle? 'I never saw anybody give Gabriel and Saliba or Van Dijk and Konate a tougher time,' Neville recalled. High praise. Makes you wonder what happened.

Wirtz. Eight league goal involvements since that £100m+ move from Leverkusen a year back. Not exactly lighting up the league, is it? Neville had a tactical brainwave: stick him as a shadow striker. He looked decent there in pre-season. But against Newcastle, the 23-year-old was drifting. Too far from the main man, according to Neville.

Bottom line? These two have had 'a bit of a free ride,' as Neville put it. Time's up. The pressure's on, big time, to justify those massive fees for the rest of the season. Liverpool deserves more.