Bradley Barcola interview: Liverpool adaptation, Man City test and Andoni Iraola 'intensity'
Bradley Barcola believes he is adapting to life at Liverpool 'more and more' with each game - and wants the Reds to use this weekend's visit of Manchester City as a launching pad.
Andoni Iraola's team will return to Premier League action on Sunday in a 4.30pm BST kick-off at Anfield following an extended international break.
The Reds reconvened earlier this week at the AXA Training Centre and swiftly turned their attention to a contest with the division's early pacesetters.
Barcola - who arrived on Merseyside from Paris Saint-Germain in the final days of the summer transfer window - has made five appearances across all competitions since the completion of his transfer.
After a settling-in period, the winger now has his sights firmly set on making an impact during a busy run of fixtures in the coming weeks.
"Yes, I feel comfortable," the No.29 told Liverpoolfc.com. "At the beginning, I had to adapt and now I feel that I'm adapting more and more. So, I'm very happy to start ahead and I hope to be even better on the pitch."
On how he has found competing in the Premier League so far, he added: "I think it's very intense. It's very different from Ligue 1.
"But yes, you have to work hard to be ready for a lot of running and that's what I try to do in training to be prepared for every match."
Read on for the rest of our pre-match interview with Barcola…
On returning after the international break…
It went well. We came back [Thursday] after the selection. We had a few days off, so it felt good, but we're all happy to be back and to train together to be ready for the big game on Sunday.
On working with Iraola…
I think he's a very good coach. He has very good ideas. He puts a lot of intensity, whether it's in training or in a match. I think it's very good to work like that so that we can win all our matches.
On whether Iraola has asked anything else of him other than being able to play on both flanks…
No, not more than that. He asks me to do what I can do, to play as usual, so I can play on the left and on the right. It's true that I prefer to play on the left, but it doesn't bother me to play on the right, so there's no problem with that and I try to be ready to play left or right.
On facing City this weekend…
I think it's going to be a very tough match, because Manchester City are a very good team. We'll be playing at home with all our fans, so I think we have that advantage and we know they'll be behind us. It's going to be tough, but we'll be ready.
On City providing a stern test to start a busy run of fixtures…
Yes, I think it's very good. They haven't lost games, but we haven't lost any games either. So, it's going to be a very, very good game. It's going to be the game that's going to launch us in the series of games we're going to have. So, I think if we manage to win this game, it's going to be very good for the future.
