Andoni Iraola explains why Bradley Barcola is on the bench despite being ‘tempted’ to start him
Bradley Barcola has to be content with a place among the substitutes for Liverpool’s Premier League clash against Ipswich on Friday night, despite Andoni Iraola being ‘tempted’ to start him.
After a lengthy pursuit throughout the summer, the Reds finally signed the French winger from Paris Saint-Germain at the start of this week, with the 24-year-old arriving at Anfield in a £123m deal (The Athletic).
The forward hasn’t played since the World Cup third place match in mid-July, having had some downtime after the tournament and then been omitted by Luis Enrique for PSG’s first few matches of the season.
Iraola had been ‘tempted’ to start Barcola tonight
Speaking to Sky Sports an hour before kick-off at Portman Road, Iraola was inevitably asked about the rationale behind selecting Barcola on the bench rather than in the starting XI, having hinted at potential involvement for the player yesterday.
The Liverpool boss explained: “I was tempted to start him. He’s looked good in training but he hasn’t played any minutes in pre-season.
“He’s ready. I think definitely we will use him in the second half, but we take caution because we don’t want to lose him straight away, so the next step is to have him on the bench.”
Barcola will probably get a few minutes off the bench
It doesn’t come as a huge surprise that Barcola is held in reserve tonight, having had no football for seven weeks and only had a couple of training sessions with Liverpool.
The Reds have four more matches to come in the next 16 days, so there’ll be plenty of opportunities for the Frenchman to make a full debut for his new club before the international window at the end of this month.
Cody Gakpo and Victor Munoz have both started the season brightly and are worthy of their places in the starting XI on form, so it isn’t as though there’s a dire need for Iraola to throw our new number 29 straight in at the deep end.
The head coach has strongly hinted that Barcola will get some minutes off the bench tonight, and how much time he plays (or whether he gets on the pitch) may well depend on the game state in the second half.
If Liverpool are winning comfortably, there shouldn’t be any real need to call upon him. However, if the Reds need a goal in the final 20-25 minutes, we suspect that the Frenchman could be deployed for his debut.
We fully trust in Iraola to make the decision which is best for the team, and for Barcola in terms of his fitness.
