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7 hours ago
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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot pinpointed a change in approach from opponents as a factor in the struggles of his Premier League champions this season.
But it is time to look closer to home after this wretched night at Brentford.
Do not be fooled by the narrow 3-2 scoreline. Brentford were superior in every aspect, and had Liverpool somehow rescued a point it would have been grand larceny.
Slot focused on the number of long balls the Reds have had to cope with, along with deep-lying defensive strategies, as a reason behind their dramatic fall from grace which brought a fourth successive Premier League defeat.
Apart from publicly flagging this up as a potential area of weakness in his Liverpool side, the Dutchman now needs to turn his attention to the desperate efforts of his own players, who were vulnerable, exposed, flat and thoroughly out of sorts.
They offered not one redeeming feature as they slumped again, the visiting fans suffering as they made their way home from a freezing west London night.
They have now lost as many Premier League games this term as in their entire title-winning campaign, becoming only the fourth reigning champions to lose four consecutive games after Leicester in 2016-17 (5), Liverpool themselves in 2020-21 (4) and Manchester City last season (4).
This was also the first time they have lost four consecutive league games since February 2021, proving Slot must find the cure for this malaise on his own doorstep as opposed to looking elsewhere.
If he was aware of how opponents attempt to unlock Liverpool, then he would hardly have been surprised that a long throw hurled in by Brentford's Michael Kayode exposed their soft underbelly after only five minutes, Dango Ouatarra scoring from Kristoffer Ajer's flick-on.
Liverpool quite simply, were outplayed. And awful. They fell to set-pieces and counter-attacks - in other words the same old story this term.
Brentford's own outstanding display under a leader of growing stature in Keith Andrews must not ignored, but the drop in standards from the Anfield outfit has been alarming.
The Bees were able to run through them with ease, unsettling them at every turn, Mikkel Damsgaard's magnificent through-ball releasing Kevin Schade for a classy second goal.
Liverpool had concerns everywhere, from established performers of the past to expensive new acquisitions who were simply not up to scratch.
Virgil van Dijk cannot escape the scrutiny, his partnership on the left side of Liverpool's defence with the struggling £40m Milos Kerkez an uneasy alliance, and the captain exchanging quizzical glances with the Hungarian in the first half.
It was Van Dijk who brought down Outarra on the line of the penalty area to concede the spot-kick from which Igor Thiago effectively sealed the success for Brentford.
The Dutchman has been a central figure of a defence that has creaked all season.
Since the start of May, Liverpool have conceded 2+ goals in more Premier League games than any other side with nine, while they have conceded 14 goals in their nine league games this season. In the previous campaign they did not concede their 14th goal until their 16th game.
Liverpool's midfield was non-existent, while hope that £116m Florian Wirtz had sparked into life with an improved performance in the 5-1 Champions League win at Eintracht Frankfurt was extinguished here.
The German missed a glorious first-half chance and then replaced by a defender, Joe Gomez, with seven minutes left and Brentford 3-1 up.
It was quite the verdict from Slot on the influence and impact of his summer signing. The verdict from Brentford's supporters was predictable as he departed, to chants of "what a waste of money".
Mohamed Salah showed one flash of the old brilliance to give Liverpool hope they did not deserve in a frantic finale, but it was otherwise another poor performance from one of the club's all-time greats, who is struggling for confidence and inspiration.
It was also a night of little reward for striker Hugo Ekitike, the one summer arrival who has flourished, as he had no service worthy of the name in the absence of the injured £125m buy Alexander Isak and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.
Slot could not hide from the evidence before his own eyes as he told BBC's Match of the Day: "It was a disappointing result and a disappointing performance as well.
"Conceding three goals is far too much if you want to win a game of football. First one was a set-piece, second is a counter-attack which is one of the things Brentford are really good at.
"What I have to do is look at what we do wrong and what we do right. I have a clear idea of where we have to improve, but that hasn't been the case in other games. We didn't do the basics right."
Slot will have to find the answers and quickly.
Liverpool's next four games are against Crystal Palace at Anfield in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup, before another home league game against Aston Villa. Real Madrid then come to Anfield in the Champions League, before a visit to Manchester City - where you can be sure Erling Haaland will be licking his lips if he faces a defence as feeble as this.
Liverpool have a team with quality, but no shape, with Wirtz still trying to fit in, offering encouragement to any opponents with ambition. The near-£450m spend in the summer has not yet offered anything in the way of improvement or progress.
At the moment, given their struggles, Liverpool's much-discussed blip appears to be getting that victory at Eintracht Frankfurt - unthinkable when you recall their smooth progress last season and finishing 10 points clear in top spot.
For Slot and Liverpool, this was a chastening experience and further disappointment could follow should Arsenal beat Crystal Palace on Sunday to increase the gap between them to seven points.
