Zinedine Zidane has defended Bradley Barcola after a difficult night for France and the Liverpool forward. Les Bleus fell to a 3-1 defeat away against Italy, despite taking a 10th-minute lead through Michael Olise, in their penultimate Nations League match. The loss saw France surrender top spot to the Azzurri in League A, Group 1.
Barcola's central role
Without both Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, the 24-year-old was tasked with playing as a centre-forward by Zidane before being withdrawn for Junior Kroupi after 77 minutes. Barcola did record four shots on goal, but he only hit the target once as he was denied by the woodwork in the first half and saw two efforts blocked.
The forward's central role came only days after he had struggled in the position for Liverpool in their 3-2 defeat to Fenerbahce in the Champions League. But Zidane defended his decision to also utilise Barcola through the middle as he suffered his first defeat as France manager.
Zidane's response
“I saw Desire (Doue) a lot on the left wing and Bradley in the centre,” he told TF1, as quoted by Foot Mercato. “That's what was planned. They could switch positions.
“When you have the ball, you have to create movement, above all. We played against a team that knows how to defend very well.
“We're not worried, it's part of football. It's also about having moments like this to see how we'll react. It's better to have them now.
“We're still here, in the race. Tonight wasn't a bad game. We didn't know how to react in difficult moments, there's room for improvement. We must not panic.”
Mbappe's return and Liverpool context
Regardless of the result and his performance, Barcola is unlikely to start upfront again in France's final game against Turkey after Zidane confirmed Mbappe is pencilled in to return. “We'll see tomorrow, but that's the idea,” he said, after the forward missed the loss to Italy with a minor injury.
Liverpool manager Iraola had previously defended his own choice to start Barcola as a centre-forward for Liverpool, though he confirmed he intends to predominantly use the forward as a winger. “No, Bradley's a winger,” he said. “He has played as a left winger, sometimes a right winger, but also has played in PSG as a striker, no?
“And it's something that I wanted to try. I thought against their centre-backs, he could be a threat - especially in behind.
“But he's a winger and he will be mostly, 90% of the times, used as a winger. But I think it's alternatives that I sometimes want to try, no?
“I tried with Cody (Gakpo) against Chelsea, I think in the Carabao Cup and not maybe from the beginning, but it's true that during the games, I think it's options that we can use, no?
“When Alex is tired and we need another type of striker, we can use other strikers that we have, but also wingers that can do a job there.”
