Andoni Iraola singled out Bradley Barcola and hinted that his Liverpool team struggled with a gruelling fixture schedule shortly after their 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield. The result marked the third time in four Premier League matches that Iraola's side failed to score.
Fixture congestion and team changes
The Reds defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 just a few days earlier, before welcoming Alvaro Arbeloa's outfit to Anfield. Iraola made just three changes, including handing Kostas Tsimikas his first start of the season, though Barcola started yet again despite a disrupted pre-season.
But the Frenchman, alongside fellow big-money additions in Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, failed to seriously trouble the Fulham defence throughout. Fulham could arguably lay claim to having created the better opportunities and thoroughly deserved their first point of the Premier League campaign.
Iraola's assessment of the draw
While juggling multiple competitions is nothing new for Liverpool, Iraola is navigating the Champions League for the first time since his summer switch from Bournemouth. His reasoning for Liverpool's uninspiring showing is likely to set off alarm bells among the club's supporters.
"When you draw, especially at home, you can't be happy. Today we lacked a bit of freshness and we did not do enough offensively to make the difference," Iraola told Match of the Day.
"We have been good enough to keep the clean sheet. It was slightly better in the second half. In the first half we started the game slow, we lacked energy and it was not enough, we have to be offensively better."
Barcola's struggles and upcoming fixtures
Iraola added: "It is less than three days, 60 hours, [since the Atletico Madrid match] and a lot of players had to adapt. Most of the changes were for physical reasons because the players were tired, but that is the season and in less than three days we will be here against Spurs [in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday]. We have to adapt and find ways to win."
Barcola featured on the wing for the second successive appearance in three days, having squandered two golden opportunities to open his Liverpool account during the victory over Atletico Madrid. After playing 60 minutes on Tuesday, he managed 72 against Fulham, yet the £123m recruit from Paris Saint-Germain struggled to make any meaningful impact.
"Bradley is one we are building up physically with games and the games will give him the condition we want," Iraola said. "But it is not just Bradley, we lack the freshness. I only remember one clear chance [for Fulham] and we kept the structure but offensively we need to do much better."
Iraola remains unbeaten at the helm of Liverpool, though their three draws from four fixtures represent an underwhelming beginning to their Premier League campaign. The Reds face Tottenham next in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, before making the trip to Iraola's former club Bournemouth the following Sunday in the league.
