Reaction from Arne Slot as Liverpool lose 3-2 to Brentford in what is their fourth successive Premier League defeat
Arne Slot reacts during the Premier League match between Brentford and Liverpool at Gtech Community Stadium (Image: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
Arne Slot admits he is yet to find an answer to Liverpool’s tactical problems after a 3-2 defeat at Brentford condemned his side to a fourth successive Premier League loss. The Reds fell behind to an early strike from Dango Ouattara before Kevin Schade added a second before the break.
Milos Kerkez reduced the deficit on the cusp of half-time but Igor Thiago’s penalty strengthened Brentford’s advantage once more after the restart.
Mohamed Salah ended the worst goal drought of his Anfield career in fine style late on but Liverpool were unable to force a dramatic equaliser and have now lost four in row in the league following defeats to Manchester United, Chelsea and Crystal Palace.
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Slot admitted he and his players have been unable to counteract a more direct style that undid the Premier League champions at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday evening.
“Teams have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play and we haven’t found an answer yet,” the Reds head coach said.
“Going down 1-0 every time doesn’t help either. Teams know which strategy to play against us.
“Even when we didn’t play well today we still scored twice from open play but you can’t compete up there (at the top of the table) because we simply concede too many goals.
“It’s not just the defence, it’s the 11 players together. It definitely also has to do with if you change quite a lot in the summer then it’s not a surprise it can go a bit like this.
“I didn’t expect it to be four losses in a row, let that be clear. It’s not an excuse but the last six we played the last five have been away and that’s not helpful.
“When we were 1-0 down, that was the only 20-35 minutes that I liked. Unfortunately we had a great moment with Florian (Wirtz) that didn’t lead to a goal.
“Those moments can get you back in the game and give you energy. But then at 35 minutes they took the game again, Brentford did many things well.
“It wasn’t as if the second half was completely ours, that definitely wasn’t the situation. They were in the game a lot and although we made it 3-2 they also had moments to make it 4-1.”
Liverpool were bombarded all game by Michael Kayode’s long throws and despite planning for it during the week, they conceded inside five minutes after a hurl into the box caused chaos that Ouattara profited from.
Slot added: “We had been preparing for that, yes. The only thing we did yesterday on the training pitch was preparing for that and in the meeting today.
“Brentford is also in my opinion known for fantastic counter-attacks and that was their second goal.”
The Reds turn their attention to the Carabao Cup on Wednesday when they host Crystal Palace.
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