Iraola Says Wirtz and Barcola “Are Players I Trust 100%”

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 12: David Affengruber of Fulham passes the ball under pressure from Bradley Barcola of Liverpool and Florian Wirtz of Liverpool during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Liverpool FC and Fulham at Anfield on September 12, 2026 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images) | Getty Images When you spend £100M-plus on a player, it comes with expectations. For ability, for application, for impact. It’s only natural. It’s probably even fair. A football player who costs nine figures is going to be expected to deliver.Over the past two summer, Liverpool have bought three such players. None, it’s likely also fair to say, have lived up to the expectations brought by their hefty price tags, though in the case of Bradley Barcola that it’s only been a little more than a month since he’s signed means nobody’s too worried just yet.For Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, who were both bought last summer, though, each passing week and match only sees the concerns grow. At least for those watching on from the outside.Ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League tie against LASK, Isak is once again out injured while Wirtz is fit and squarely in the firing line, facing seemingly ever increasing question marks over whether Liverpool might in fact be better off with him on the bench.“Cody [Gakpo], Alex [Isak], and Dominik [Szoboszlai] are our top scorers this season and now we don’t have them,” was head coach Andoni Iraola’s response when asked at the pre-match conference today about whether Wirtz and Barcola in particular need to step up and contribute more to Liverpool’s attack.“We need other players to give us those numbers. We trust the players we now to play in those positions. With Bradley and Flo, they have had good games and bad games this season—like everyone else. But we know their level, we know they will give us good performances.“The other day, if [Lewis] Koumas scores then it is an assist for Bradley. His performance would be exactly the same but we will all say he played really well with an assist. With Bradley, the other day he had good situations and we did not finish them, so Bradley and Flo are players I trust 100 percent.”Liverpool and the club’s fans in recent years have embraced being a club where high quality but perhaps slightly less heralded signings can grow into superstars.The high-flying attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino under Jürgen Klopp all fit solidly into that category. Now, they have three £100M-plus attackers, all signed with expectations they would be superstars from day one, with two of them now at the club for more than a year.All are exceptional talents. All have shown flashes of promise, even brilliance. All have had moments and games where it seemed they were very much ready to begin to consistently contribute like superstars. For any number of reasons, it’s never lasted.The manager saying he has trust and faith is all well and good, then. It’s probably the only thing he can say. But if the trio don’t end the 2026-27 season looking like the difference makers one would expect any player to be when you pay that much money to sign them, Liverpool will be in trouble.