John Barnes knows the reason why Bradley Barcola struggled vs Arsenal

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The Frenchman simply could not get going against Arsenal, but rather than being because of a lack of quality in his play, legendary former Liverpool winger John Barnes claims that Barcola was simply the victim of some impressive Gunners defending. Arsenal doubled up against Barcola There was a time early into Sunday’s game when it looked as Barcola had the number of Arsenal right-back Jurrien Timber.

While this was frustrating from a Liverpool point of view, and will lead to some question marks over Barcola, Barnes has claimed that it was just a case of Arsenal realising a weakness and doubling up to ensure it was not exposed. “I think Arsenal defensively doubled up [on Barcola] and did better than they did in the first-half,” the 62-year-old said to Stadium Astro.“I thought they were leaving him one-vs-one, we saw when he went past him [Timber] in the first-half, I thought second-half Arsenal defended better really to limit Arsenal’s opportunity and to double up on Barcola.” READ MORE: Daniel Sturridge has highlighted a big Liverpool issue which was on full display vs Arsenal Barnes also expressed his view that modern wingers appear more reluctant to take players on more generally, preferring to turn back and recycle possession rather than take a risk against their full-back.

“I think Barcola had more of an opportunity in the first-half, but once again, I just feel that players don’t take the opportunity to attack,” he said. This is modern football.” Barcola has already faced criticism for not attacking defenders during his short time at Liverpool so far, showing a reluctance to take on Mateus Nunes in particular as the Reds were beaten by Manchester City in October.