Just over two months on from Mohamed Salah’s exit, Liverpool are still living with the aftershocks. The numbers he left behind were one thing. The gravitational pull on that right flank was another.
Andoni Iraola has decided he cannot simply replace that. So he’s changing the whole picture instead.
Barcola Flips the Script
Rather than hunting for a like-for-like, left‑footed winger to hug the right touchline, Liverpool have redrawn their attack. The club pushed hard and paid big to land Bradley Barcola from Paris Saint‑Germain, one of the most expensive signings in their history and very much the new face of this frontline.
Barcola arrives with end product already on his CV: 13 goals and seven assists last season in Paris. But he is no Salah clone. The Frenchman is right‑footed, happiest when he starts on the left, drives infield and attacks the box from that angle. In essence, Liverpool have flipped the axis of their attack. Where Salah once cut in from the right, Barcola now threatens from the opposite side.
It gives Liverpool a new rhythm. It also creates a new problem.
A Lopsided Front Line
With Barcola locked in on the left, Liverpool suddenly look overloaded on that side. Four left wingers, no natural right winger. The transfer window has closed, and the squad list is brutally clear.
The experiments have already begun. Teenage prospect Rio Ngumoha was thrown in on the right against Newcastle and found it hard going, often drifting inside without the same menace or certainty he shows on his natural flank. Cody Gakpo offered a bit more control when used there against Nottingham Forest, but only a bit. The role still feels vacant, still searching for an owner.
Iraola, though, thinks the answer may already be in the building.
Munoz, the Wild Card on the Right
Víctor Munoz, a new arrival, is not the obvious solution on paper. His career to date has leaned more towards the left. Yet Iraola sees something different when he flips him.
“Víctor has played more games on the left in his career but has maybe been even better on the right,” the Liverpool manager said before their Premier League trip to Ipswich Town.
That line matters. It hints at a manager who is not just patching holes but actively reimagining the shape of his front three. Munoz, right‑footed and comfortable driving down the line or stepping inside, offers a more traditional presence on that flank than the makeshift options tried so far.
For Iraola, though, this is not just about the here and now.
Ngumoha’s Education
Munoz may fit the role immediately, but Iraola is determined not to stunt Ngumoha’s growth. He wants the youngster to learn the right side, to become unpredictable, to widen his own pathway into the team.
“We know Rio can play on the left and showed his qualities,” Iraola said. “He needs to develop on the right so it gives him more options to play. He is so young. [But] because he wasn't incredible in the first game on the right, we can't say he will never play on the right anymore.”
That is the long game. Liverpool are trying to evolve in real time, with a teenager learning on the job in one of the most tactically demanding roles in the team. There will be rough edges. Iraola appears ready to live with them.
Isak Needs Service, Not Theory
All of this tactical reshaping leads to one central figure: Alexander Isak. The Swede is built to dominate the penalty area, not to drift into wide zones and knit play together. He thrives when the ball arrives early and often, when crosses and cut‑backs flood the box.
Right now, Liverpool’s right flank is not giving him that. A more orthodox winger on that side – whether Munoz, a rapidly improving Ngumoha, or even a repurposed Gakpo – could transform Isak’s service. Direct balls, whipped deliveries, simple angles. No overcomplication, just supply.
If Iraola can unlock that dynamic, the new system stops being a theory and starts becoming a weapon.
Gakpo’s Fight for a Place
Through all this, Cody Gakpo remains a key piece of the puzzle. Late summer interest from Manchester City and Tottenham underlined his value on the market, but Liverpool held firm. He stays, and he will not simply fade into the background.
Gakpo can play across the front line, drop between the lines, and offer a different kind of threat from Barcola or Munoz. In a season where Liverpool are trying to reshape their attack on the fly, his versatility will matter. So will his willingness to scrap for minutes in a forward line that no longer has a fixed hierarchy.
Ipswich as a Measuring Stick
Ipswich Town on Friday will not just be another league fixture. It will be a live test of Iraola’s new Liverpool: Barcola as the left‑sided spearhead, a patched‑together right flank still searching for its permanent leader, and a centre‑forward who needs the pieces around him to click.
Salah’s era on the right is over. The question now is simple and unforgiving: how quickly can this new version of Liverpool find a shape that scares defences again?
