Is-tan-bul. Three syllables that straddle two continents. They’ve always meant the world to Liverpool.

Now it’s emotions that are split: an all-time high 20 years ago, a concerning low today.

Have they really spent RM2 billion and become worse?

Or Wirtz, Florian Wirtz.

A few games ago, a joker called him 007 – zero goals, zero assists, seven games.

It’s harsh on the German, a victim of a play on mispronouncing his name.

The 22-year-old is the second-most expensive recruit in the amazing summer spend, and the primary scapegoat for the Reds’ recent woes.

£116 million was a British record until it was trumped, if you pardon the expression, by shelling out £125m for Alexander Isak.

But Isak is being cut a bit of slack because he went on strike to force his move to Liverpool, so he arrived with the rust not removed.

He could still use a can of WD40, while, in contrast, Wirtz enjoyed a proper pre-season.

He was the most coveted young playmaker in Europe, who opted for the Reds over Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

It was considered a coup, a statement signing that just about wrapped up the title in June, according to some.

Wirtz’s former Bayer Leverkusen teammate Jeremy Frimpong had already joined as a replacement for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

And then came Milos Kerkez, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni.

Isak was the key piece of this title-winning – perhaps even Champions League-winning – jigsaw.

That was the thinking. How different it all looks now.

Overwhelming favourites for the EPL before a ball was kicked, they’re only second favourites now – behind Arsenal.

As Virgil van Dijk said after the loss to Galatasaray, it’s no time to panic.

The Reds are still top of the EPL table, and a loss at this stage of the Champions League can be brushed off.

But what’s causing anxiety on the Kop is that the first time FSG decides to go for broke, it isn’t working. Yet.

During the summer, as cash cascaded from the coffers like the Niagara Falls in flood, it seemed like Christmas had come early.

But as each new signing was celebrated like a present from Santa, the more discerning Kopites wondered if the club might be overdoing it.

Blooding too many new players at the same time is no easy task, regardless of their abilities.

It seemed un-Liverpool-like.

The time-honoured Shankly-Paisley method involved about three per season. Enough to freshen the team, but not too many to disrupt it.

Last summer was like watching the third generation blow the hard-earned family fortune.

Last season, hardly a penny was spent and they cruised to the title.

This time, it’s all change and they’re nowhere near the purring Rolls-Royce of a year ago.

Yet on paper, they may look stronger.

They appear to have reinforced in all the right places except centreback, but were denied Marc Guehi by events over which they had no control.

Apart from leaving it to the last minute.

And to compound things, the young centreback, Leoni, whom they did sign, tore his ACL and is out for the season.

Only Ekitike, of the new signings, looks worth the fee.

It’s a massive shock as Liverpool is accustomed to new arrivals fitting in as if to the manor born.

It is smart recruitment (with a dash of managerial instinct) that has enabled the club to compete with oligarch- and state-owned rivals.

Liverpool still has to bring in what it spends, after all.

Led by Michael Edwards, they’ve had the Midas touch and offloaded with the slickness of a used car salesman.

None of the new players is a dud. You can see why they were bought, but they have yet to gel with the core that won the title.

It’s fine margins, that split second less in which to think and move, find a gap, pass to a teammate.

But fine margins all over the pitch that can add up to quite a difference.

Wirtz has shown only glimpses of why he was a golden boy in the Bundesliga.

But, forlorn and lightweight, he does not look anywhere near a £100m plus player.

Isak should come good, having done it in this league. 54 goals in 86 games is the rate of an elite striker. But he needs the service.

Milos Kerkez needs time but Jeremy Frimpong, billed as a right-back-cum-right-winger, has so far been neither one thing nor the other.

The full-back pairing of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson is being badly missed – it’s not always Ibrahima Konaté’s fault!

Trent was a better defender than given credit for, but it’s Mo Salah who is missing him most of all. Especially those short, crisp passes to start him on a run.

Luis Diaz’s dynamism, never-say-die attitude and dribbling ability are also big losses. No one is doing that now.

And then, of course, there’s Diogo Jota.

The tributes continue – there was one in Istanbul – and if anyone thinks all this is disproportionate to the level of player he was, think again.

Injuries distorted his last two seasons, but his goals and his dressing room presence are sorely missed.

He was, by all accounts, a fantastic guy, and such a man, such a key cog in a complex machine, is impossible to replace.

Liverpool is missing Jota for more than his football, brilliant though he was.

Rubbing salt into the wounds of midweek was the whipped cream texture of the penalty. Come off it, referee!

One-nil to the hostile atmosphere. Arne Slot could be forgiven for thinking it never rains but…

The two injuries were to his two best players. Allison has been the star man this season, but at least with Giorgi Marmardasvili, the gloves should be in safe hands.

Ekitike’s absence might mean that Isak can step up. And, dare it be said, perhaps even begin to develop an understanding with Wirtz?

The German may flourish in a more advanced role with Dominik Szoboszlai restored to midfield.

There are easier assignments than Chelsea away on Sunday (00.30am in Malaysia), but the Blues are themselves having a bit of a wobble.

Time for the slightly chastened Reds to show the two-game run of defeats is a glitch, not a crisis.

And the worst – or Wirtz – may be over.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.