Liverpool were bullied on and off the ball in their defeat to Brentford, and it left Jamie Carragher naming two key reasons why Arne Slot‘s side are not equipped for the league this season.
The spotlight is shining brightly on Liverpool and the pressure is mounting on Slot to find the answers to their malaise, which, for Carragher, is partly due to two key reasons.
That being the team’s lack of physicality and height, traits which have become increasingly important in the topflight this season, underlined by 19 percent of goals coming via corners.
• READ: What is Liverpool FC’s biggest issue right now?
Liverpool’s weakness is being preyed upon, and when analysing Saturday’s defeat on Sky Sports, Carragher explained how it was apparent within the first 90 seconds, and never improved.
“Where is the leadership, where is the organisation?”
“When I talk about the lack of physicality in the Liverpool team, it’s something to highlight one minute into the game [vs. Brentford],” he said.
“We’re 90 seconds into the game…and Conor Bradley is not the biggest player in the world, the quickest, or the most powerful man on the pitch.
“He gets far too tight at times and is really aggressive because I don’t think he’s confident enough in his physicality, and that’s why he gets so many yellow cards.
“He gets tight, and that means there is space in behind and then he can’t cope with the ball over the top.
“The goalkeeper has to come to the rescue, and 90 seconds into the game you’re defending a long throw, what you don’t want to do against Brentford.
“I keep going back to them not being equipped for the way the Premier League is this season. I keep talking about this area (behind the defence on the right).
“I’ve mentioned Conor Bradley and I’ve mentioned Konate, who was horrific for one of the goals. But where is the leadership, where is the organisation?
“You just let a ball go over the top and, again, the goalkeeper has to come. Maybe he could do a bit better but before you know it, you’re now defending another long throw.”
Not enough “physicality and height in the team…”
He continued: “That is something Liverpool have got to look at going; the actual physicality and height in the team because, right now, I don’t think they have got enough of it.
“Losing four league games in a row for Brentford would be a disaster, for any promoted teams you’d be saying you can’t lose four on the bounce.
“To see the champions lose four games in a row in the Premier League with the expenditure in the summer, I think we are in crisis time for Liverpool right now.
“There will be a lot of serious questions getting asked in the dressing room, the manager and the coaching staff, and also the people above that they have gone out and spent and got.
“They will be expecting a lot more.”
For what it’s worth, Liverpool’s 10 starting outfielders had an average height of 1.84m against Brentford, the same as their starters, and after Slot’s substitutions, that dropped to 1.82m.