Ian Rush has shared some advice from his playing career on how Bradley Barcola can thrive at Liverpool.
The French winger became the Reds’ second-most expensive player of all time when he joined from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of August for an initial £106m, potentially rising to £123m if all add-ons are triggered (The Athletic).
The 24-year-old had to wait until his seventh appearance for LFC to get off the mark, but then came a hat-trick in the Champions League win over LASK, followed by a horrific one-on-one miss against Brentford in his next match.
Rush’s advice for Barcola
Barcola has had an up-and-down start to his Liverpool career, but the legendary Rush has advised him to not become dispirited even if he’s enduring a frustrating game.
Speaking to talkSPORT about the Reds’ number 29, the Welshman said: “We all know he’s a fantastic player. I think the most important thing for me when I was playing was that someone taught me, ‘never be scared to miss’.
“I could miss three or four [chances], but then the fifth one would go in and everyone forgets about the three or four that you missed. He’s just got to be in the right place at the right time and never be scared to miss.”
(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Barcola would be wise to heed Rush’s advice
Barcola showed his ability to put a bad moment behind him in the win over Brentford last weekend, shaking off his first-half miss to lay on a smart assist for Alexander Isak for the winning goal.
The 24-year-old could’ve tried to go for the chance himself, but he had the presence of mind to recognise that the Swede was in a better position and ultimately made the right decision, and Liverpool duly benefitted.
The Frenchman is yet to get off the mark in the Premier League in five games so far, missing two ‘big chances’, and his ratio of shots on target to total attempts is a lowly one to seven, although an xG of 0.84 shows that he’s at least getting in positions to score (Sofascore).
As LFC’s leading goalscorer of all time, there’s nobody better than Rush to impart valuable advice to Barcola on how to succeed as a forward at Anfield, and our number 29 would be very wise to heed the Welshman’s words.
So long as the £106m man keeps getting into goalscoring positions, he should come away with a healthy goal tally from his first season on Merseyside, even if he’s to have days where it feels like the ball simply won’t go in the net for him.