Liverpool’s New Attack Strategy After Salah: Iraola's Tactical Shift

Two months on from Mohamed Salah’s exit and Liverpool are still walking a tightrope without their Egyptian reference point. The numbers he left behind were huge. So was the shadow.

Andoni Iraola’s response has not been to find a like-for-like left-footed winger for the right. He’s gone the other way. He’s changing the whole shape of Liverpool’s attack.

Barcola flips the script

Instead of cloning Salah, Liverpool broke the bank for Bradley Barcola, one of the most expensive signings in the club’s history. He arrives from Paris Saint-Germain with 13 goals and seven assists from last season, but he is no touchline-hugging replacement on the right.

Barcola is right-footed. He wants the left. He thrives when he can drive inside, attack the half-spaces, and flip the angles that used to belong to Salah on the opposite side.

Salah once cut in from the right onto that lethal left foot. Barcola now does the mirror image from the left. The entire attacking balance has been reversed.

It gives Liverpool a fresh, unpredictable edge on that flank. It also leaves a glaring question on the other wing.

Four left wingers, no natural right

With the summer window closed, the squad is lopsided. Liverpool have four players who prefer the left, but not a single natural right winger.

The early experiments have been rough.

Teenager Rio Ngumoha was thrown in on the right against Newcastle and struggled to impose himself. Cody Gakpo, shifted over in the next match at Nottingham Forest, offered a little more but still looked like a stopgap rather than a solution.

Iraola, though, sees an answer in a player who has barely had time to unpack.

Víctor Munoz, a new arrival, is quickly emerging as the manager’s preferred option out wide.

“Víctor has played more games on the left in his career but has maybe been even better on the right,” Iraola said before Liverpool’s Premier League trip to Ipswich Town.

That line matters. It hints at a tactical compromise: keep Barcola where he is most dangerous, and use Munoz to restore some natural width on the opposite side.

Iraola’s gamble on youth

Even with Munoz ready-made for that role, Iraola refuses to abandon the development of his younger wide players. Ngumoha, in particular, remains central to his long-term thinking.

“We know Rio can play on the left and showed his qualities,” Iraola insisted. “He needs to develop on the right so it gives him more options to play. He is so young. [But] because he wasn't incredible in the first game on the right, we can't say he will never play on the right anymore.”

That is not a throwaway comment. It’s a statement of intent. Ngumoha will be asked to keep learning in an uncomfortable role, even if Munoz offers a cleaner short-term fit.

For a club used to instant output from its wide forwards, that patience is a risk.

Isak waiting for service

All of this experimentation feeds into one central issue: how to keep Liverpool lethal in the final third.

The shape on the right is especially important for Alexander Isak. The Swedish striker is built to dominate the penalty area. He wants early crosses, cut-backs, and quick deliveries into the box, not endless recycling around the edge of the area.

A more traditional winger on that flank could transform his service. Someone who can hit the byline, whip balls across, and stretch the pitch would give Isak exactly what he needs to live in the six-yard box.

If Munoz nails down that role, Liverpool’s attack suddenly looks more balanced: Barcola cutting in from the left, Munoz driving from the right, and Isak finishing the moves.

If not, Iraola’s remodel risks becoming too left-heavy, too predictable, and too easy to funnel away from goal.

Gakpo stays in the fight

Amid all the tactical tinkering, Cody Gakpo remains a key subplot. Manchester City and Tottenham tested Liverpool’s resolve late in the window, but the club held firm.

Gakpo stays, and he will not simply watch this new era from the bench. His versatility keeps him in the frame, whether off the left, through the middle, or again as a makeshift option on the right when Iraola shuffles his pack.

For now, though, Liverpool’s immediate concern is clear.

Ipswich Town on Friday will offer another live test of Iraola’s new attacking map: Barcola inverted on the left, Munoz pushing to claim the right, Ngumoha learning on the job, and Isak waiting in the box for proof that this bold redesign can still deliver goals at the old Anfield rate.