Liverpool's Tactical Shift After Salah: Barcola Leads the Change
Just over two months on from Mohamed Salah’s departure, Liverpool are not so much replacing their former talisman as reinventing themselves without him.
Andoni Iraola has walked into a club built for a left-footed phenomenon on the right and decided to flip the picture entirely. No like-for-like signing. No comfort blanket. Instead, a bold tactical redraw of the front line.
Barcola flips the script
The headline act of this new era is Bradley Barcola. Liverpool made him one of the most expensive signings in their history, a clear statement that the attack would be rebuilt around him, not around the ghost of Salah.
Barcola arrives from Paris Saint-Germain on the back of 13 goals and seven assists last season. Those numbers matter, but the zones he occupies matter more. He is right-footed, happiest when drifting in from the left, driving at the heart of defences. In other words, he inverts Salah’s old role. The Egyptian cut in from the right; Barcola will cut in from the opposite side.
That single shift has knocked over the rest of Liverpool’s attacking structure like a row of dominoes.
With Barcola locked into the left, Liverpool suddenly find themselves lopsided. Four players who prefer the left flank. No natural right winger in the squad after the summer window slammed shut. For a club that once felt automatic on that side of the pitch, it is a jarring change.
A vacancy on the right
The early auditions have exposed the issue.
Teenage prospect Rio Ngumoha was handed a start on the right against Newcastle and struggled to impose himself. The talent is obvious; the comfort on that flank is not. Cody Gakpo, used there against Nottingham Forest, fared only slightly better, often drifting inside in search of familiar territory.
Iraola, though, sees a solution in a less obvious place.
Víctor Munoz, a new addition, has built most of his career off the left. Yet the manager is convinced that the Spaniard’s best football may actually come from the opposite wing.
“Víctor has played more games on the left in his career but has maybe been even better on the right,” Iraola said before Liverpool’s Premier League trip to Ipswich Town. It was more than a passing remark; it sounded like a tactical hint.
Munoz offers something closer to a traditional wide outlet. He can stretch the pitch, hug the touchline, and deliver early balls into the box. In a Liverpool team that now has a left-sided creator in Barcola, that balance could be crucial.
Ngumoha’s education
Even with Munoz seemingly tailored for the role, Iraola is not about to abandon his younger options.
Ngumoha remains central to the long-term plan. The manager is adamant the teenager must learn the right flank, even if the first steps have been awkward.
“We know Rio can play on the left and showed his qualities,” Iraola said. “He needs to develop on the right so it gives him more options to play. He is so young. [But] because he wasn't incredible in the first game on the right, we can't say he will never play on the right anymore.”
That is the line between short-term needs and long-term vision. Munoz may be the immediate fix, but Liverpool’s future could still involve a versatile Ngumoha capable of operating on either side of the attack.
Serving Isak, keeping Gakpo
All of this experimentation has a clear target: making the team dangerous again in the final third.
A more orthodox winger on the right would change the dynamic for Alexander Isak. The powerful Swede lives for service in the box, feeding on crosses and cut-backs rather than constant involvement in buildup play. With Barcola cutting inside from the left and a true wide threat on the right, Liverpool could restore a more direct supply line into their penalty-box striker.
Then there is Gakpo. Manchester City and Tottenham tested Liverpool’s resolve late in the window, but the Dutchman stayed. He remains an important piece, even if he is no longer guaranteed a starting spot in his favoured areas.
Gakpo will now have to fight for minutes in a crowded left-sided stable, adapt to roles across the front line, and prove he can thrive in Iraola’s reimagined system. His versatility keeps him in the frame; his consistency will decide how often he starts.
Ipswich as an early measure
Friday’s trip to Ipswich Town will not define Iraola’s tenure, but it will offer another glimpse of how quickly Liverpool can grow into this new shape.
Barcola on the left. A vacancy, or perhaps a new specialist, on the right. Isak waiting between the posts. Ngumoha learning on the job. Munoz standing by to tilt the balance.
Liverpool are not trying to recreate Salah. They are trying to become something different. How fast that transformation takes hold will decide whether this season feels like a transition — or a genuine new beginning.
