£239m Liverpool pair embarrassed as media reacts after Man City hammering
A pair of Liverpool players worth £239million have been told they aren’t playing close to well enough given their exorbitant price tags, following loss to Manchester City.
The Reds suffered their first Premier League loss of the season, being beaten 3-0 by Manchester City. The Citizens scored all three goals within 13 minutes of each other, and the first came three minutes after Ryan Gravenberch had been sent off.
The red card evidently changed the dynamic of the game, but in truth, Liverpool had struggled well before then.
The defence evidently struggled against the might of City’s attack, but their midfield and attack didn’t fare much better when attempting to make inroads of their own.
That attack featured £123million summer signing Bradley Barcola and £116million man Florian Wirtz, who joined a year prior.
Neither man has been good enough this season, nor were they against City, and that’s reflected in the response by the media.
Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola continue to struggle
Rating the players across both sides of Liverpool against Manchester City, the Daily Mail gave Wirtz a four and Barcola five.
On Wirtz, they said: ‘Another big game that has gone by without a meaningful moment from £116million Wirtz. Made the wrong decision in the big moments time and again.’
And on Barcola: ‘Had one or two nice moments but Iraola will be demanding much more from the £123million signing. Has not got going in a red shirt yet.’
For BBC Sport, it was a four for Wirtz and a five again for Barcola.
They said on Wirtz: ‘Simply has to do better, particularly in games of this magnitude. Was largely ineffective and made some poor decisions.’
On Barcola, they said: ‘Sharp on the ball and did his defensive duties but, like Wirtz, must to do more in the final third.’
The Express gave out the worst rating for either player – Wirtz received a three, and Barcola another five.
They said about the German: ‘Nowhere near clean enough in possession with too many poor touches and passes. Had some encouraging moments but overall continues to be a massive flop.
‘His performance was summed up by a moment in the second half when he blazed a shot wide instead of playing [Milos] Kerkez or Barcola into space in the box.’
They said about Barcola: ‘Put the hard work in defensively but didn’t offer enough in attack. Too often pushed onto his weaker left foot. Good work to pinch the ball and feed [Lewis] Koumas for a chance in the 48th minute.’
