Liverpool blow a big chance to close in on the Premier League’s top four and have no one to blame but themselves

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After four straight Premier League wins, things seemed to be turning around for Liverpool, if not too convincingly. With just four wins in their first 12 games and looking more like a mid-table side than a top-four contender, a run of good results saw them beat Tottenham, Southampton, Aston Villa and Leicester City from in a row, offering them Monday. opportunity – a win over Brentford, and the Reds would be just one point clear of the top four, which seemed highly unlikely just before the World Cup.

A comprehensive 3-1 defeat at Brentford Community Stadium – the Bees’ first victory over the Reds since 1938 – left Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to blame everyone but themselves.

“We’re not happy with the performance, clearly,” he told Sky Sports.

“The set pieces they put in, they really go to the limit with any body contact. We fought back, but it was much more of a game they wanted than a game we wanted.”

The problem with his words is that all three goals were Liverpool’s direct fault and the narrative that they were too aggressive is irrelevant. Every game is different depending on how an official calls it, and some referees will allow you to play. Others, as we have seen recently, will not.

But every Liverpool goal was down to their poor execution and not an abundance of aggression from Brentford or a referee hiding his whistle. Looked:

Brentford led 1-0 on an own goal from Ibrahima Konate in the 19th minute. He stands behind his marker rather than on the goal side, and the ball hits the French defender and goes in. Bad execution.

It was a poor play from the back in the 42nd minute which directly led to a turnover after Harvey Elliot let the ball through. Brentford made them pay moments later with a Yoane Wissa header.

Finally, the knockout blow, via Bryan Mbeumo six minutes from time, came from another Liverpool turnover. Naby Keita lost possession after taking too many touches, and the Bees again countered prolifically.

“The third goal is a clear foul,” Klopp said afterwards.

There were very few there. What was clear was that Liverpool were unprepared for this game, for the physique they would encounter, and too often they were sloppy and lacked any kind of cohesion. Luge has been tough since Sadio Mane left for Bayern Munich in the offseason, and each team will have a bit of a hard time losing arguably their best player, but Brentford were organized defensively, they didn’t make those mistakes and they made Liverpool pay for there. Thomas Frank’s game plan has worked as he would have liked, while Klopp has a lot of work to do to rebuild the Reds into the dreaded outfit of recent seasons.

Liverpool had 73% of the ball but produced fewer shots on goal (six) than Brentford (seven). The Reds have completed 82% of their passes against just 50% for the hosts. But you can have the ball and all the passes you want, because if the end product isn’t there at both ends of the pitch, you’ll find yourself in a similar position, and that’s with the hopes of qualifying for the League of Nations. champions who hang on with very little margin for error going forward.

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