Liverpool's Midfield Struggles Persist Despite Summer Changes

Liverpool’s soft centre has survived the summer. Pat Nevin saw it from the gantry, and he didn’t sugar-coat it on BBC Radio 5 Live: the weaknesses that dragged them down last season are still staring Andoni Iraola in the face.

This was Newcastle away in name only. Eddie Howe’s side have been stripped of their edge, losing their most dangerous forward and two of their best midfielders in the off-season. Yet Liverpool, supposedly retooled and refreshed, still looked absurdly easy to slice through.

Midfield wide open

Iraola’s big call was bold on paper and brutal in practice. Florian Wirtz, the £100 million playmaker signed to be Liverpool’s new creative heartbeat, was stationed ahead of a flimsy double pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai. It looked risky before kick-off. It looked reckless after five minutes.

Gravenberch and Szoboszlai are gifted, technically polished, progressive in every sense of the word – except the one that matters when the ball is lost. Both want to play on the front foot, both naturally drift into attacking zones, and both were caught high again as Newcastle sprang into space. When Anthony Elanga finished off a rapid counter to make it 1-0, both Liverpool midfielders were still in the opposition box.

It was a familiar sight. The kind of breakaway goal Liverpool coughed up repeatedly last season. The kind that drains belief from a back four already short on protection.

Cody Gakpo briefly dragged Liverpool level, but the defensive naivety didn’t relent. Just 176 seconds later, Joe Willock was wheeling away in celebration, Newcastle back in front thanks to more loose positioning and slack awareness from the visitors. The pattern from 2025-26 has survived the reset.

Wirtz drifts, questions grow

If the midfield structure looked fragile, Wirtz’s performance only deepened the sense of unease. Jamie Carragher had thrown down the gauntlet in his Daily Telegraph column before the season started, challenging the Germany international to prove he was more than just “neat and tidy”.

On this evidence, the question still hangs heavy. Wirtz did manage one of Liverpool’s rare shots on target in the first half, but the broader issue remains: where does he actually fit?

He has often looked uncomfortable on the left wing, drifting without truly damaging opponents. Here, in a role closer to his favoured central position, he still failed to grab the game, still failed to impose the authority expected of a nine-figure signing. This was the kind of match he was bought to illuminate. Instead, he flickered on the edges.

Liverpool supporters have been patient. They greeted his arrival at Anfield last summer with genuine excitement. A year on, patience is turning into puzzlement.

Iraola rolls the dice

When Willock restored Newcastle’s lead, Iraola acted. Off went Wirtz and the unfortunate Ngumoha, on came Alexis Mac Allister and summer signing Victor Munoz. The changes were as much about structure as personnel: more control in midfield, more direct threat out wide.

Munoz, at least, offered something tangible. His aggressive running forced the penalty that allowed Szoboszlai to level from the spot and salvage a point. His cameo had a clarity Ngumoha was never likely to find.

The teenager had been handed the impossible brief: replace Mohamed Salah on the right wing, despite preferring to operate from the left. He worked, he tried, but the role and the context did him no favours. Sympathy for him was inevitable.

Sympathy for Wirtz was in shorter supply.

Isak misfires, alarm bells ring

On the other side, Alexander Isak’s return to Newcastle brought no relief for Liverpool either. The Swede, another marquee investment meant to transform the attack, endured a miserable evening. Service was limited, yes, but when his big moment arrived midway through the second half, he lashed the ball over the bar with the goal gaping, prompting gleeful jeers from the home support.

For Liverpool, though, the combination of Wirtz’s anonymity and Isak’s ineffectiveness is no laughing matter. These were the two players the club’s hierarchy believed would push them back towards Champions League glory. Two huge deals, two supposed centrepieces of a new era. Yet a year on, both are labouring against a Newcastle side shorn of its best weapons.

And those aren’t the only concerns. Milos Kerkez struggled badly on Tyneside. Jeremie Frimpong, usually a force of nature, offered little. Issues stretch from back to front, and the transfer window clock is ticking.

Long season, short patience

Szoboszlai tried to steer the mood towards optimism afterwards, stressing the importance of twice coming from behind to take a draw. He’s right to a point: this is a squad still scarred by a limp, trophy-less campaign that ended in fifth place. Iraola’s tenure is in its infancy, and reshaping a fragile side takes time.

But nights like this cut through the spin. The soft centre remains. The marquee signings are still searching for themselves. The system exposes the same cracks under pressure.

Liverpool can argue that the season is long and the project is young. The question is how long the club – and its support – will wait for Wirtz and Isak to stop symbolising the problem and start justifying the price of the solution.