‘Reject’ – Gary Neville criticises Liverpool summer signing after Man City defeat

Liverpool crumbled at Anfield as Manchester City recorded a thumping 3-0 win in the Premier League.

The Reds were the better of the two sides for the first 60 minutes, but Ryan Gravenberch’s sending off changed the complexion of the game.

That said, there were also a handful of big players who failed to come to the fore at Anfield, like Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola.

And Gary Neville believes the French international didn’t do himself any justice with his performance on the left flank.

Gary Neville slates Liverpool summer signing Bradley Barcola

Barcola came up against Mateus Nunes, who isn’t a right-back by trade.

And it’s safe to say he was second best in that battle as he failed to make an impact on the game.

Barcola played it safe more often than not and, strangely, he was hesitant to use his devastating pace and trickery to take players on.

And Neville feels that is an aspect of his game that needs to be worked on for him to be a success in the Premier League.

“Just looking at Barcola today, particularly in that first half when he was down here obviously against Nunes and there’s a couple of times and I think in a top game, a big game as a right back you’re likely to be run at probably two or three times a half in a big game because if you’re getting run at more than that you’re usually getting a bit of a doing.

🚨 Bradley Barcola: “Ligue 1 is very physical. But here, I would say it’s more physical in terms of the running you have to do. The games are end-to-end”.

“The intensity is so high. But that’s also why I came here. It’s a new challenge for me to take on”, told Sky Sports. pic.twitter.com/BYSIvOhMr6

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 12, 2026

“So ordinarily, you’re going to have a couple of moments whereby you’re facing your winger and you have to win,” Neville explained on Sky Sports.

“He really did turn down and reject the one-on-one duel that he directly had against Nunes.

“He sort of wasn’t positive and didn’t have that belief and I don’t know where that comes from really from Barcola, because you think about the way in which he plays for France, you know, in the World Cup and he gets the ball off PSG and he’s just so direct, he’s rapid and you think right, okay, go straight at Nunes.”

It wasn’t his finest night, but the former PSG man is still getting to grips with his new surroundings, so he will likely take a bit more time to deliver consistent performances.

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