Bradley Barcola is the latest in a collection of players that Liverpool have bought who have a very effective style of dribbling.
Barcola’s signature isn’t significant only in and of itself; it fits an unusual pattern in Liverpool’s recruitment over the last few years.
The man nicknamed La Sauterelle (The Grasshopper) is the most recent in a line of leggy, long-limbed lads that Liverpool have landed.
Why might that be?
Liverpool’s long-legged dribblers
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - MAY 30: Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain is challenged by Declan Rice of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League Final 2026 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal FC at Puskas Arena on May 30, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Stuart Franklin - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - MAY 30: Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain is challenged by Declan Rice of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League Final 2026 match between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal FC at Puskas Arena on May 30, 2026 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Stuart Franklin - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Height is a commonly discussed feature of footballers, but we tend to rely on simple terms of ‘tall’ or ‘short’.
But there can be a significant difference in limb length between two players of equal height.
Morphology studies in recent years have gone further, measuring sitting height, leg length and even thigh and knee height, finding relationships between these proportions and how footballers move.
The classic dribbler archetype has a low centre of gravity and quick feet.
Research examining dribbling in youth players lends some weight to the latter part of that picture: quicker dribblers used more frequent steps and touches while limiting unnecessary movement of their centre of mass.
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This blend of strength and deftness was well-represented in the Klopp era at Liverpool.
Whether it be Gini Wijnaldum retaining possession under pressure or prime Mo Salah slaloming through crowded penalty areas, Liverpool’s dynamic, physically compact players resembled unstoppable machines at times.
But physical strength is not the only way to retain possession. Instead, players can gain an advantage with their range.
Take a look at this goal from the 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest. Cody Gakpo is on the right wing, and the ball is threaded in his direction.
Gakpo is static as he receives the ball while coming under pressure from the defender. But he sticks his foot out and uses his long leg to get across the defender…
…blocking his access to the ball. Gakpo can use the ball’s momentum then to let it run across his body and get him in behind…
…allowing him to assist Isak for 1-1.
Winning duels with biomechanics
A 2021 analysis, ‘The cutting direction of professional soccer players’, essentially looked at the distance at which attackers make their move to cut away from opposition defenders during duels.
The length of the defender’s leg gives them a tackling radius – literally the distance at which they can reach the ball.
Flip that relationship around and we can imagine an equivalent radius for the attacker: the area around his body within which he can still manipulate the ball.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, April 14, 2026: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo is challenged by Paris Saint-Germain's Marcos Aoás Corrêa 'Marquinhos' (R) during the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, April 14, 2026: Liverpool's Cody Gakpo is challenged by Paris Saint-Germain's Marcos Aoás Corrêa 'Marquinhos' (R) during the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
In the Forest example, instead of quick feet or trickery, Gakpo used his playing radius to achieve separation from his marker, who simply couldn’t close the distance to the ball around Gakpo’s outstretched leg.
We can suppose that the longer a player’s legs are, the further the ball can be from their body and still be under their control.
Liverpool’s squad has plenty of players with a larger playing radius and that has practical applications across the pitch.
In 2024/25, Ryan Gravenberch thrived in the No. 6 position with his signature half turn allowing him to shield the ball as it ran across his body using his long playing radius.
He also led the league for interceptions among midfielders that season, capable of reaching around opponents with his long legs to poke the ball away from danger.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, September 14, 2024: Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, September 14, 2024: Liverpool's Ryan Gravenberch during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest FC at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Alexander Isak, meanwhile, can hold the ball up with his reach rather than needing to use upper body strength, spinning away from contact and striding towards goal to finish.
Teammates can also wrap the ball into him reliably, because even if his first touch doesn’t kill the ball dead, he can usually make up the ground to beat his defender to the next touch.
Hugo Ekitike is another rangy option in the squad and his key attribute is similar to Barcola’s: the ability to carry the ball forwards and get a shot away.
He attempted 4.18 take-ons and made 3.26 progressive carries per 90 in his final Frankfurt season, and on the rare occasions he had space to run into for Liverpool last season, he typically got a shot away at the end of it.
His long strides allow him to push the ball further forward and still get to it for the next step before his marker.
Enter The Grasshopper
PARIS, FRANCE - Wednesday, March 5, 2025: Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola (L) and Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson Becker during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool FC at the Parc des Princes. Liverpool won 1-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
PARIS, FRANCE - Wednesday, March 5, 2025: Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola (L) and Liverpool's goalkeeper Alisson Becker during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 1st Leg game between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool FC at the Parc des Princes. Liverpool won 1-0. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
This last comparison is relevant to Barcola, who led the PSG attack for both chance-creating carries (0.9 per 90) and shot-ending carries (1.6 per 90). Liverpool themselves highlighted those numbers when announcing his signing on Sunday.
When he has grass to eat up, Barcola is nearly impossible to stop.
His most explosive steps are usually the second or third in the carry, as he lures opponents in before pushing the ball beyond them and accelerating.
Barcola also has freakish acceleration off the ball, more so than Ekitike or Isak, making him equally dangerous when darting into space behind.
The problem with this approach is that Liverpool have not been afforded much space in recent seasons.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 16, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Andoni Iraola on the bench before a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Como 1907 at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Sunday, August 16, 2026: Liverpool's head coach Andoni Iraola on the bench before a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Como 1907 at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Despite changing head coach in order to bring back fast, attacking football, the Reds are still struggling to create the conditions that maximise these galloping, space-eating players.
Barcola was one of PSG’s most frequent dribblers (4.7 attempts per 90), but completed only 37.2%, a lower success rate than the three teammates who attempted more.
This suggests he’s a better carrier than he is a tight-space dribbler, similar to the likes of Gravenberch and Gakpo.
Liverpool do still have contrasting profiles in the squad – the quick feet of Rio Ngumoha or the electric raw speed of Victor Munoz – who might mature into potent weapons against lower blocks.
How to make the most of these dribblers
But the recruitment team have built Andoni Iraola a squad that suits more open, transitional games in which they can eat up ground quickly and fly forwards toward goal.
The boss clearly believes that bringing intensity against the ball is the way to disorganise the opponent and create that space to attack.
“I think what we do without the ball affects a lot after our play in possession,” Iraola said after drawing against Forest.
“Being closer to the opposition gives you the chance to win duels and then you start attacking quicker, attacking better.”
Can intense pressing disorganise a team before they get into their low defensive block, generating the conditions for fast attacking football?
Liverpool and Iraola are betting that it can and that it will bring success back within Liverpool’s unusually long reach.
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