Another point dropped, another performance to pick apart

Three draws from four Premier League fixtures. Still unbeaten, technically, but Liverpool supporters know the difference between unbeaten and convincing. Saturday's goalless affair against Fulham had very little of the latter about it. Anfield left the ground frustrated, and rightly so, a front four assembled at enormous cost failed to produce a single goal between them, and the questions that follow a performance like that don't disappear with a shrug and a mention of the table.

Andoni Iraola, to his credit, did not reach for excuses. He acknowledged plainly what everyone inside the ground could already see: his side were blunt, short on freshness, and unable to create at the level that has defined them on better days. When a manager comes out and says it as clearly as that, you at least know he sees the problem. Whether he can fix it before it costs Liverpool something more significant than a point is the part that matters.

Wirtz in the firing line again

Florian Wirtz arrived with a price tag that demands attention, an initial £100m, with a further £16m in add-ons, and the scrutiny that comes with that kind of investment is not going away. Against Fulham, he registered three shots, none of which troubled the goalkeeper, and fashioned two chances in a performance that his critics were quick to seize upon. talkSPORT pundits Jamie O'Hara and Jason Cundy both lined up to have their say, with O'Hara questioning the midfielder's ability to retain possession in situations where physicality cannot be used as an excuse.

"You know the problem I have with him? I can accept him adapting to the physical side of the game, and it takes time, right, but to then watch him, he's getting the ball in space and giving it away," O'Hara said. "And it has nothing to do with the physicality of the Premier League. And I am watching and going, 'Stop giving it away'." Cundy went further: "Wirtz has been here now, right, this is his second season. I am not convinced that Wirtz is going to be a success. I think I might have seen enough."

A WhoScored statistic, cited as of 4 September, added fuel to the argument, Wirtz had surrendered possession 53 times this season, more than any other player in the Premier League. Across five outings this campaign, he has contributed just a single assist. That is a long way short of the numbers that persuaded Liverpool to spend as they did.

Iraola backs his man, but admits the bigger problem

Iraola was not about to throw his marquee signing under the bus. Speaking ahead of the Fulham match, he pointed to Wirtz's display against Atletico Madrid as evidence of what the German is capable of, and contextualised his output against what number tens across the division are producing. "He is a good player out of possession who helps us in our press," the manager said. "But he runs the same as the 10 of Arsenal, the 10 of (Manchester) City, the 10 of Fulham and more or less his stats are very similar to the number 10s other teams have."

Yet Iraola's post-match assessment told a broader story. Four forwards, Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz and Wirtz, lined up together in the Premier League for the very first time, collectively valued at close to £400m. All four were culpable. "I think what was lacking, I think it was quite clear," Iraola said. "It's the first game since I'm here, I think, that we've had problems to create chances, to score goals, to make the difference offensively." He cited a turnaround of roughly 60 hours after a demanding midweek fixture, and acknowledged that tired legs played their part, but he was equally clear that tiredness alone does not explain everything. "It's these kind of games that you need to win, sometimes with a set play, sometimes with a shot from the edge, sometimes from a moment of brilliance from the offensive players, and we haven't had today."

The schedule will not get kinder any time soon, and the next time that £400m forward line takes the pitch together, Liverpool will need a very different answer.