Liverpool witnessed a pretty awful display on Saturday. However, it's truly glorious news for them - they've got a special player on their hands.
Liverpool saw off Brentford on Saturday in what ended up being a valuable three points at one of the most difficult grounds in the Premier League. Of course, they did need to rely on a red card for the hosts to get them going and then a second red card to see things out.
So all in all, there’s improvement still to be had, even if the points are in the bag.
Alexander Isak got the winner, with Victor Munoz having set Liverpool on their way with an equaliser. Key goals from players who came into the side after the 6-3 win over LASK.
Florian Wirtz had a fine game, too, creating nine chances and making sure he was heavily involved in play. That’s what Liverpool need to see from their playmaker, ultimately.
Awful Bradley Barcola was brilliant
No one can come out of that one saying Bradley Barcola was good. This was a very poor performance in front of goal - he spurned two one-on-ones and a few other chances.
It’s actually quite shocking that he came out of the game without a goal, quite honestly.
But in some ways, that’s not the point and Liverpool will actually be very pleased with what they saw from Barcola. The finishing wasn’t there but we can quite confidently say it will be given he bagged a hat trick in midweek.
Instead, the important thing here is that Barcola consistently got chances. It’s something Liverpool sorely lacked last season - a player who finds a way to get in front of goal time and time again.
Mohamed Salah is one of the all-time greats at this but his sub-par season last term hurt the side. No one, it turned out, could step up and help out.
Barcola can, though. His pace, his drive, and his ability to see openings for himself all combine to give Liverpool a player who will threaten purely through the positions he gets himself in.
That is what Liverpool paid the money for. That’s a bigger and better skill than being an ‘elite’ finisher - even the world’s best strikers only hit the target around 50 per cent of the time.
The performance was one to celebrate, then. Barcola will be the threat that Liverpool needed when they bought him and in all, he can be the Salah successor.