Jamie Carragher believes it is “a moment of crisis” for Liverpool following their fourth successive defeat to Brentford in the Premier League.
Liverpool lost 3-2 on Saturday, then also lost to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
Arne Slott admitted after the loss to Brentford that Liverpool have yet to find an answer against teams that utilize long balls and low blocks.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher agreed, saying the Premier League champions needed to improve physically to turn a corner.
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Brentford outclassed Liverpool with a 3-2 victory over the Premier League champions.
Carragher said: “Four defeats in a row would be a disaster for Brentford. For the champions to go through with their spending in the summer means this is a crisis period for Liverpool. There will be a lot of serious questions asked in the dressing room between the players and the coaching staff and beyond the manager. “Given the amount of money they have spent, you will be looking for more.”
“Liverpool needs to look at the physicality and height in the squad, because I don’t think there’s enough physicality and height at the moment.”
Nev: Liverpool remind us of Manchester United’s team that is ‘all over the place’
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville said this about Liverpool on his podcast:
“Arne Slott’s Liverpool remind me a bit of the Man United teams of old.
“We went through a crazy period where it seemed like we were always going to score, but we were all over the place. “One thing you can guarantee to the likes of Salah, Ekitike, Wirtz, Isak, Gakpo is that they will score, but the other players have been solid. It’s a responsibility to be exposed and not always open. It sounds like starting from scratch, but sometimes you have to do that. When everything is crazy and chaotic, that’s what Liverpool are like now, you just have to find out.” Strong foundation.
“That means keeping a narrow back four, preventing spaces, winning duels, winning set-pieces, having players there who don’t concede easy goals. Play forward a little faster than you’ve been before, stop running out into the midfield. Be a little more direct, knowing that your front three will win the game.”
“Maybe it’s time for coach Arne Slott to simplify things. If he continues to play Kerkes at left-back and Bradley at right-back and they are exposed in midfield, we will continue to get the same results.”
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Gary Neville said on his podcast that Liverpool’s recent run of form, which has seen them lose four league games in a row, is a cause for concern rather than just their imagination.
“I like the manager and the way he works. There doesn’t seem to be any panic, but he’s going to have to step in on this. This is the pattern they’ve had in the first two months of the season. They’ve got to narrow the back four and play a little bit more safely. They’ve got to not open up too much, not go too far forward and let the front three win the game.”
“It’s no longer just a temporary difference, it’s a cause for concern. We can’t give Arsenal seven or eight points.”
Slot: Liverpool can’t answer long balls and low blocks
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Arne Slott believes any referee in the world would have awarded a penalty for a foul on Codi Gakpo in Liverpool’s loss to Brentford.
Slott spoke openly about opposition players sitting deep and attacking directly in the build-up to the game against Brentford at the G-Tech Community Stadium, and his side were punished in the same way on Saturday night.
Dango Ouattara’s first goal came from a long throw from Michael Kayode in the first half, and Slott admitted Liverpool were a threat they had prepared for in detail in Friday’s training session, with Brentford also making 64 long passes on the night, the most this season.
Asked in his post-match press conference what was the cause of Liverpool’s current struggles, Slott replied: “There are quite a few things.”
“There’s no doubt that the team has a certain style of play against us and it’s a very good strategy. We haven’t found the answer yet.
“Even if you lose 1-0, after five minutes it doesn’t matter. Even if we didn’t play well today, we can still score two goals.
“But we can’t compete and we’re not doing that at the moment because we’re conceding too many goals. It’s not just the defense, it’s 11 players doing it together.”
Your opinion: ‘Slot is not the man to take Liverpool forward’
Gmac: Why didn’t Liverpool just stop fooling around and simply spend £35m on Marc Gehi at the start of the window to build a solid defence, instead of wasting over £100m on a ‘striker’ they didn’t need? Now they’re playing the same way expecting different results, which is crazy.
A James: Don’t underestimate the change in style in the Premier League. Both City and Liverpool rely on individuals to get something out of the game, which is why Arsenal could get away with it. Possession control is not a modern solution. Is it time for the three behind the LFC? One on one with a team?
Roach: I haven’t looked at it properly in a while. These issues were evident from last season. Even when they won the league, their performances were often sub-par, and while they were lucky enough to grab a win, it could easily have been reversed. I don’t think Slott is the guy that’s going to take us going forward.
Lee Ashley: They messed with the team that won the title too much!!! Every team needs reinforcements in the summer transfer window and Liverpool should have added a few quality players, but they unnecessarily added attacking players. Now the team is uneven and has problems.
Ben10: Liverpool don’t need to do anything other than focus on solidity. Move the attacking midfielder down and put Endo in front of the defense alongside Grabenbert. Goals will come, the players are too talented to create chances. Liverpool must defend.
