‘Good minutes’ – What Andoni Iraola said about Bradley Barcola after Liverpool debut v Ipswich

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Bradley Barcola was handed his Liverpool debut off the bench in the Reds’ 2-0 win away to Ipswich on Friday night.The French winger joined from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal potentially worth up to £123m (The Athletic) earlier this week, bringing a conclusion to a transfer saga which had dragged on for the entire summer.The 24-year-old had to be content with a place among the substitutes at Portman Road, but the head coach came good on his pre-match promise to hand the forward some minutes in Suffolk as he was introduced just after the hour mark.Iraola pleased with Barcola’s Liverpool debutWhen speaking to Sky Sports after the win over Ipswich, Iraola was asked for his assessment of Barcola’s performance on his Liverpool debut.The Basque replied: “He has had good minutes, a good pass in a counter, a good couple of chances when he was going against the goalkeeper and we haven’t found him.“We need to learn these movements because he will be there threatening in behind all the team, but he looks confident on the ball as always. He hadn’t played any competitive minutes since the World Cup so we had to be a little bit more careful.”(Photo by Shaun Botterill/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 trustBarcola got some valuable minutes into his legsIt’s important that Iraola emphasised Barcola’s lack of game-time since the end of the World Cup in mid-July, which was most likely the deciding factor in him being a substitute rather than a starter tonight.The 24-year-old hadn’t played for PSG in their first few games of the season before his transfer to Liverpool, so for him to get 26 minutes off the bench is a constructive first step towards rebuilding full match fitness.Theo Squires wrote for the Liverpool Echo that the Frenchman had ‘a quiet debut’ for the Reds and ‘did not see enough of the ball’ during his time on the pitch, which is probably a fair assessment of the winger’s performance.As per Sofascore, he completed just five passes in nearly half an hour and didn’t have any shots against Ipswich, although he did record one key pass and made a couple of lively runs shortly after his introduction.There’s a lot more to come from Barcola, we’re sure, but at least he now has his debut behind him and some valuable minutes on the pitch as he strives to begin repaying the fee that Liverpool paid for him.