Cody Gakpo's Form Poses Challenge for Bradley Barcola at Liverpool
Jamie Carragher believes Bradley Barcola could be waiting a while for his chance if Cody Gakpo keeps playing like this.
Liverpool brushed past Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road on Friday night, claiming their first win of the Premier League season after back-to-back 2-2 draws against Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. The performance didn’t silence every question around Andoni Iraola’s start, but it did showcase a frontline that suddenly looks sharp, ruthless and well-balanced.
And at the heart of it was Gakpo.
Gakpo turns on the class
Ipswich fired off 14 shots and had their moments, but Liverpool killed the contest inside nine minutes. Twice Alexander Isak finished. Twice Gakpo pulled the strings.
The second goal was the one that stuck in the memory: a gorgeous outside-of-the-boot through ball, slicing open Ipswich’s back line and sending Isak racing clear. One touch, finish, game drifting away from the home side.
Those flashes of quality prompted Carragher to jump onto social media and spell out what many Liverpool fans were already thinking about the in-form Dutchman and the club’s new big-money signing.
“Barcola is going to struggle to get a game with this version of Gakpo,” the former Liverpool defender posted on X.
Barcola arrived from Paris Saint-Germain in a £123m deal in the summer, a marquee signing expected to slot straight into Iraola’s attack. Instead, he’s watching a compatriot of Virgil van Dijk and a favourite of the dressing room make himself almost undroppable.
Van Dijk: ‘He’s important for us’
Inside the camp, there is no doubt about Gakpo’s standing. He was one of Liverpool’s standout performers in pre-season and has carried that form into the opening weeks, persuading the club to keep him at Anfield despite interest from Manchester City and Tottenham.
Van Dijk, now wearing the armband, didn’t bother hiding his admiration after the win.
“Cody was outstanding,” the centre-back told Sky Sports. “He’s important for us and he will be important this season as well. He showed it today, last week as well with the assist and over the last couple of years.”
That’s the bar now for Barcola. He hasn’t kicked a ball competitively for Liverpool yet, and already the man in his way is stitching together performances that make rotation a risk rather than a luxury.
Isak reminds Liverpool what he can be
If Gakpo was the creator, Isak was the executioner.
Last season never really belonged to the Sweden international. A huge move from Newcastle United was followed by a campaign disrupted by injury, flashes of quality without the sustained influence Liverpool had paid for.
At Portman Road, he looked like a striker ready to make up for lost time. Two chances, two goals, and a constant menace whenever Liverpool turned Ipswich around.
Iraola sounded delighted, but his message was clear: this is just the starting point.
“He’s a massive player for us,” the Liverpool manager said. “My demands will probably not be about the goals. I know he is fit and in good shape. He’s going to produce the numbers.
“My fight with him will be more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations – but it is good he has already played two full games, scoring the goals, so I am very happy to have him.”
Isak himself spoke like a forward who feels the structure around him finally makes sense.
“We were waiting for the first win,” he said. “We talked about starting the game good, which we haven’t done recently, so it was perfect for us to get two good quick goals.
“With a normal pre-season, I think we are starting to get to the way we want to play. To be offensive and attack the defence. I think we did that. We scored two, and we could have scored more.”
A £123m question
That’s the reality facing Barcola now. Liverpool’s attack, on paper, was supposed to be reshaped around the Frenchman’s arrival. Instead, before he has even made his debut, Gakpo and Isak have combined twice, the patterns look familiar, and the chemistry is growing.
Carragher’s line might sting, but it reflects the competition Iraola now has at the top end of the pitch. If this is the level Gakpo sustains, does the manager dare break up a partnership that already looks in sync?
For Liverpool, it’s a welcome problem. For Barcola, it’s the challenge he walked into.
