Liverpool supporters had plenty of reasons to be upbeat on Sunday despite suffering a frustrating defeat against Arsenal at Anfield.

The Reds were largely good in the face of the Premier League champions, and though they ran out of steam at the end, they really should have capitalised on a first-half period where they had them absolutely on the ropes.

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. However, after beating him easily once or twice in the first-half, the former PSG man did not do it again.

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.

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.

“If someone comes to you then they kind of like come back and check into midfield and stuff. 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.

With his speed, trickery and unpredictability, this should be something Liverpool can use as one of their main weapons, but it has been sadly lacking so far. It is still early days, and Barcola will surely improve in all areas, but it is a worry that he has failed to really turn up in the biggest matches so far.