Bradley Barcola's Role at Liverpool: A Tactical Shift

Bradley Barcola has barely unpacked his bags, but Andoni Iraola is already asking him to redraw Liverpool’s touchlines.

Having sparkled on the right in midweek during a European win, the French winger was flipped to the left for his full Premier League debut at Anfield. Different flank, same instruction: be unpredictable.

Iraola brushed aside any notion that Barcola – or any of his wide players – will be chained to one side this season. For him, the wings are a canvas, not a lane.

“I think I said it a lot of times, we have four wingers and probably before the season everyone would say we had more left wingers than right wingers because they've played more there,” he said. “All the wingers will play on the right and play on the left, depending on the match-ups, depending where we think they are going to be more dangerous, depending sometimes on the defensive demands, depending what we feel, what we analyse. I think Bradley, I think everyone – the four of them – have already played both sides and it is going to be all the season like this.”

No goals, but plenty of clues.

Liverpool were held to a frustrating home draw, yet Iraola walked away encouraged by what Barcola offered. The former PSG man, signed with big expectations and a bigger spotlight, showed glimpses of why Liverpool moved for him – driving at his full-back, drifting inside, demanding the ball even as the game tightened.

He is still playing catch-up, though. A disrupted pre-season has left him short of full sharpness, and Iraola made it clear that this is a long build rather than a quick fix.

“I think with Bradley we are also building his physical condition because he hasn't had any minutes in pre-season and I think there is a good part where today he played, I think, a little bit more even than three days ago against Atletico Madrid,” the manager explained.

“He had a good chance [at the] second post; they blocked the shot but he arrived well. Probably we know he has more but now it's about giving him the minutes, keep building his confidence and he's a player that is going to give us more.”

The message is simple: the minutes will come, and with them, the chaos Liverpool crave out wide.

Endo waiting in a crowded midfield

While Barcola’s role is expanding, Wataru Endo’s has shrunk in recent weeks.

The Japan international has slipped down the pecking order as Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai soak up the bulk of the midfield minutes. It is a logjam in the centre of the pitch, and Endo has felt it more than most.

Iraola, though, was keen to stress that the veteran remains firmly in his thoughts, pointing again to a pre-season that never really got going for the midfielder.

“I think Wata lost quite a lot of the pre-season. I think he's still not at his best but he's training very well,” he said. “The problem is, in front of him in his position I have a lot of players. He's competing against a lot of players because we are also giving minutes to try Ryan, Alexis, Dom, players that I am selecting right now. But Wata is definitely a player that I like and for sure he will have his moments.”

The fixtures will stack up. Rotations will bite. Endo’s chance, Iraola insists, is coming.

Anfield noise not the issue

What is not up for debate, in Iraola’s eyes, is the backing from the stands.

A draw at Anfield rarely feels like progress for a club with Liverpool’s ambitions. The temptation is always to look for an external fault line – the mood, the noise, the tension in the air. Iraola refused to go there.

“I haven't felt it, I didn't feel it three days ago against Atletico Madrid. I prefer to play at home, definitely. I prefer to be at home,” he said. “We cannot find the reasons outside, we have to find the reasons inside the pitch, in us. We know that if we push, the people will be with us. This is 100 per cent.”

So the picture is clear. Barcola will roam, Endo will wait, Anfield will roar.

The question now is how quickly this evolving Liverpool side can turn all that promise into the ruthless edge their season demands.