A freezing evening in West London and a painful sting from the Bees evaporated all the joy from Liverpool’s success against Eintracht Frankfurt a few days ago, as the Defending Champions fell to their 4th consecutive defeat in the English Premier League last night.
Travelling to Brentford, to take on the Bees, was never going to be an easy task for a beleaguered Liverpool side, who had displayed some encouraging spark in Germany in the Champions League in midweek. But that bubbling euphoria quickly disappeared as Liverpool were well and truly outplayed.
Mere possession of the ball is no assurance of success, and that is exactly what transpired at the Gtech Community Stadium in London. Passes and passes and passes, leading to nothing, have been a massive bother for Liverpool, with a midfield completely listless and totally bereft of ideas.
The expensive newbies in the team have not even been a shade of their so called calibre. Unable to yet adjust and get going, the huge splurge of money on these players is being questioned. Barring Hugo Ekitike, there is nothing much to write about.
Salah, too, has lost his mojo. His in-sync performances with Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and even Trent Alexander-Arnold are now the thing of the past. The great Egyptian would himself be thinking as to what has hit him. There is just Gakpo by his side, who is doing his best and just cannot be blamed.
Coming to the skipper, Virgil van Dijk, the situation is appalling, like a crumbling edifice. It was the 4th straight game where Liverpool conceded a goal early and trailed in the match, even before the players had a feel of the pitch. A long throw-in from Brentford, poor defending from the Reds, and an easy strike for Quattara, within 5 minutes of the game.
The pressure was loaded on Liverpool, and they had themselves to blame. A brittle, feeble defence totally out of sync, was exposed big time, as a brilliant Damsgaard pass set up Kevin Schade, who pulled Brentford into a 2-0 lead with a fine finish. Though Kerkez got one back for Liverpool soon after, Brentford were the better side in the first half.
To add insult to injury, an awful-looking Liverpool defence led by van Dijk gave away an unnecessary penalty right at the edge of the Liverpool box. It was indeed a poor tackle, which should have been avoided. Thiago converted the penalty as Brentford leapt to a 3-1 lead.
Salah eventually scored in open play after a long time, with a classy strike to narrow down the loss, though Liverpool never looked like winning.
Some serious introspection is required from Arne Slot in all departments of the game. The defence is weak, the midfield non-existent, and the strikers toothless. Though it is still early days in the Premier League, Liverpool’s title hopes may well be vanishing sooner than later.
Brentford are looking good again, with rookie manager Keith Andrews getting fine reviews. He is doing no harm to his reputation, which is witnessing a strong traction. Beware of the Bees then!.
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