Liverpool 0-3 Nottingham Forest: Match Review
The former Liverpool winger has spoken about Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz’s early struggles since the pair joined the Reds in the summer transfer window.
Steve McManaman is confident that Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz will find their feet at Liverpool.
The Reds twice broke their transfer record to sign the duo in the summer transfer window. Wirtz cost a fee of £100 million from Bayer Leverkusen as Liverpool beat Bayern Munich to his signature. The attacking midfielder is regarded as one of Europe’s most exciting prospects.
Then the Premier League champions made Alexander Isak the most expensive player in British history as they splashed out £125 million to sign the striker from Newcastle United. Isak plundered 27 goals for the Magpies last term as they ended a 70-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup - with the Sweden international on target against Liverpool in the final.
But the pair have endured difficult starts at Anfield. They have recorded just one Premier League goal between them, with Liverpool’s title defence over after six defeats in seven matches. In last Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest, Isak had just 15 touches and one tame shot that rolled off target.
Isak and Wirtz are starting to come under pressure to deliver. But McManaman says that he has no fears. The former winger pinpointed that Zinedine Zidane, regarded as one of the best midfielders of all time, had a soft launch to his time at Real Madrid after joining from Juventus in 2001. But Real won the Champions League that campaign and suggested Liverpool might be stronger in cup competitions than the Premier League this season.
What’s been said
Speaking on ESPN, McManaman said: “He is not the player that Liverpool thought they were buying. He's not fit enough but we forget that we're only in November. I get the fact we talk about Isak because of his price tag, we talk about Wirtz because of his price tag and they need to improve and get better.
“I don't think anyone thinks their quality is not there but they need to gel into the team, get fit and be better. I've got no problem that they won't be [better] because I've played in teams where... when I was at Real Madrid, we bought Zinedine Zidane, who was officially the best player in the world. When he joined our team, we won the league the year before and he struggled. He initially struggled for the first three, four, five months and eventually we won the Champions League.
“Maybe that will happen with Liverpool. Maybe they will become a cup team in their first year. I've seen better players struggle than the players we're talking about because I've seen and lived it. But I also know they will get there in the end, it's just taking a lot longer than fans want to see and the fact Liverpool are in the bottom half of the table adds more pressure. But I know it takes a lot longer than other people.”
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