Bradley Barcola\u2019s reaction to Liverpool\u2019s loss to Arsenal has put a clear focus on the next stage of Andoni Iraola\u2019s rebuild. The forward said the team need greater control and more composure in matches of this kind, especially when they are drawn into direct play rather than keeping the ball on the ground.<\/p>\n
That message comes against a generally positive backdrop. Liverpool have already moved past Atl\u00e9tico Madrid, LASK and Villarreal with different levels of comfort, and they remain on course for a top-eight finish for the third straight season. That would spare them two extra fixtures in the new year.<\/p>\n
Results have not been the major issue in Iraola\u2019s opening months. Arne Slot\u2019s successor has suffered only two defeats in all competitions, and Liverpool\u2019s European form has been matched by a Carabao Cup quarterfinal place and fifth position in the Premier League. Even so, the rare home defeat to Arsenal showed that the side are still evolving.<\/p>\n
Liverpool had their strongest moments after falling behind, with their work without the ball making life difficult for the champions. They controlled territory for long stretches and recorded 30 touches in Arsenal\u2019s box in the first half, yet they did not manage a shot on target before the interval. Alexis Mac Allister also had a chance to level the game before half-time.<\/p>\n
After the break, Mikel Arteta\u2019s adjustments helped Arsenal settle, and Liverpool\u2019s momentum faded. Barcola struggled to make repeated one-on-one progress and at times did not even look to take Jurr\u00efen Timber on.<\/p>\n
The numbers back up part of his complaint. Liverpool completed just 11 long passes, with a success rate of 25%, and only 11% of their crosses found a team-mate. Their average possession share ranks seventh in the Premier League, per Opta, while they have also produced 17 through balls, the joint-10th-highest total.<\/p>\n
Barcola\u2019s own game is built around running in behind, and he is still waiting for his first Premier League goal. Signed for huge money as Liverpool\u2019s third-most expensive arrival ever, he was not universally viewed as a direct Mohamed Salah replacement because he prefers to play on the left. Salah left Anfield at the end of last season and later joined Trabzonspor on a free transfer, but Barcola said he feels no pressure from that departure: \u201cRegarding Mo Salah, he\u2019s a legend here. A huge one. He\u2019s done big things here, and for that I have an enormous respect for him. But it\u2019s not pressure for me at all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barcola says Liverpool need more control after Arsenal and the numbers partly support him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,175],"tags":[1836,1162,182],"class_list":["post-22233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-liverpool","tag-2026-27-premier-league","tag-analytics","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}