Iraola Challenges Isak to Improve Without the Ball as Collymore Urges Wirtz to Dominate for Liverpool

Liverpool’s high-cost attacking pair Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz have both been told they must raise their level this season, with head coach Andoni Iraola outlining a specific tactical demand of the striker and former Reds forward Stan Collymore calling on the German midfielder to seize control of matches more consistently. Isak is preparing to return to Newcastle United for the first time since his contentious £130 million transfer to Anfield, a move that followed a strike which still rankles with many Magpies supporters and is expected to draw a hostile reception.

Isak’s debut campaign on Merseyside was badly disrupted. A broken leg limited him to 12 starts and 22 appearances in total, during which he scored only four goals—far removed from the 62 he managed across three seasons at St James’ Park. Iraola, however, has expressed confidence that the Sweden international is physically and mentally ready to rediscover that potency. “Alex is going to be a very important player for us this season,” the Basque coach said. “Right now, he is in a very good place. He has been training every day, has not missed a session and has been adding more and more minutes every friendly game. He played a very good World Cup in terms of availability – fitness level – and I want to keep him there as much as we can. We know his level and, if we can keep him there, he will score goals and give us a lot of things.”

The ‘Fight’ Over Work Without the Ball

Iraola’s most revealing comments concerned the areas in which he wants Isak to evolve. Rather than fixating on goal tallies, the manager has prioritised the striker’s contribution when Liverpool are in possession and when they are not. “Probably my fight with him, my instructions, are more in terms of without the ball,” Iraola explained. “How he can help in his position when we have the ball, so he can open spaces for other players. I am not trying to focus in terms of goals but he is a striker – he will want to score, but I try not to judge strikers if they score or if they haven’t.”

The language of a “fight” suggests ongoing, detailed coaching dialogue rather than a public rebuke. Iraola’s pressing-oriented principles require forwards to initiate defensive actions, occupy markers in ways that free team-mates, and maintain positional discipline even when touches are scarce. For a player of Isak’s athletic profile—pace, timing of runs, finishing—the request is to become harder to isolate and more useful to the structure around him. If he absorbs those instructions while regaining the sharpness that made him prolific on Tyneside, Liverpool’s attack gains a focal point who creates as well as converts.

Wirtz Urged to Lead Rather Than Flicker

While Iraola concentrated on Isak, Collymore directed a parallel challenge at Florian Wirtz, the Germany international who arrived from Bayer Leverkusen for approximately £100 million last summer and endured an inconsistent first season. Speaking on behalf of 10bet, Collymore argued that responsibility for improvement now rests squarely with the player. “He has to be better this season and I think that is HIS responsibility,” he said. “But this time he needs to lead the attack and be the focus, and he needs to show that he can make an impact more regularly. When he plays for Germany, he dominates matches to the point where you walk away thinking he was head and shoulders above everyone else on the pitch. He hasn’t reached that level consistently for Liverpool yet.”

Collymore’s critique centred on control and duration of influence. “I don’t think he’s controlling enough games for Liverpool yet. The key thing you want is to completely occupy the opposition for 15 or 20-minute spells. Where is he positioning himself? What is he creating? Right now, he goes in and out of matches.” At international level, Wirtz has frequently looked like the principal creative force; at club level, Collymore sees flashes rather than sustained authority. Elevating those flashes into regular eight-out-of-ten performances, he suggested, would make Liverpool a more multi-dimensional attacking side.

Complementary Roles and Historical Echoes

Collymore also stressed the need for Isak and Wirtz to function as a partnership rather than as isolated talents. He invoked the memory of Steven Gerrard operating behind Fernando Torres under Rafael Benítez as a reference point for how a creative midfielder and a mobile centre-forward can amplify one another. “While someone like Isak needs to dictate where he wants the service, Wirtz needs to control games much more through his ability,” Collymore said. “At the moment, he operates as a bit-part player who shows flashes of brilliance, leaving people expecting something to happen that then doesn’t materialise. If he can dominate games with an eight-out-of-ten performance week in, week out, Liverpool become a more three-dimensional team.”

The comparison is aspirational rather than literal. Gerrard and Torres peaked in a different tactical era, yet the underlying principle remains relevant: a striker who clearly signals where he wants the ball, and a midfielder capable of occupying opponents for sustained spells, can stretch defences in ways that pure individual quality cannot. For Iraola’s Liverpool, still adjusting to life after Mohamed Salah’s departure to Trabzonspor, that kind of interplay is a strategic necessity as much as an aesthetic preference.

Squad Context and Wing Options

Iraola has been candid about imbalances in the current group, admitting that Liverpool “don’t have enough wingers.” The club have been linked with Paris Saint-Germain pair Bradley Barcola and Ibrahim Mbaye, though attention appears to have settled more firmly on Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh as a potential successor to Salah’s output on the right. Two bids have already been rejected, the latest at £60 million, with Brighton understood to want closer to £70 million for the 22-year-old. Until that or another deal is concluded, Iraola must maximise the creativity available from central and interior positions—precisely the zones Wirtz occupies and the spaces Isak is being asked to open.

Newcastle Return and Psychological Layer

Tomorrow’s trip to Newcastle adds a psychological subplot. Isak’s strike and subsequent transfer left a residue of bitterness on Tyneside; the reception is expected to be hostile. How he responds—whether he shrinks from the noise or channels it into the kind of complete performance Iraola wants—will be an early character test of the new season. Fitness, at least, appears to be on his side. Regular training, uninterrupted availability at the World Cup, and a steady increase in friendly minutes have given the coaching staff a platform they lacked for much of last year.

Two Expensive Pieces, One Coherent Attack

Liverpool’s outlay on Isak and Wirtz reflected a desire to reshape the attack around elite individual talent. The first season delivered injury frustration for one and adaptation struggles for the other. Iraola’s message to Isak is technical and tactical: improve the work without the ball, create space, accept that goals are not the sole metric. Collymore’s message to Wirtz is about mentality and consistency: stop drifting through matches, dominate as he does for Germany, turn sporadic brilliance into reliable control.

If both players meet those demands, Liverpool’s attack becomes harder to predict and harder to contain. If either falls short, the absence of established wide options and the weight of the transfer fees will invite further scrutiny. For a coach still installing his methods, and for a fan base measuring the post-Salah era against high expectations, the performances of the £100 million-plus pair will be among the clearest indicators of whether this season trends toward recovery or another campaign of unfulfilled promise. The instructions have been issued. The responsibility, as Collymore put it regarding Wirtz, now sits with the players to respond.