Arne Slot branded Liverpool’s fourth consecutive Premier League defeat as amongst the most disappointing of his tenure. The Liverpool head coach expressed his dissatisfaction with how his squad performed in a 3-2 defeat away Brentford. Slot had anticipated some difficulties given the substantial transfer spending by the champions during the summer window.
However, he confessed he hadn’t foreseen suffering four successive losses and took aim at his own squad. He remarked: “I have said many times teams have a certain style against us and we have not found an answer yet. Going 1-0 down every time does not help. Teams know what strategy to play against us. Today even when we don’t play well we score two goals but you can’t compete if you concede too many goals.”
“That is not just the defence that is something we do with 11 players together. And it has a lot to do if you make a lot of chances like this summer, it can be a bumpy ride but I did not see losing four games in a row.”
Captain Virgil van Dijk echoed Roy Keane’s harsh assessment when he acknowledged that he and his team-mates must examine their own performances.
Keane had criticised Van Dijk for the champions’ defensive struggles following their home defeat to Manchester United last Sunday.
Following a ninth match without keeping a clean sheet, Liverpool captain Van Dijk found himself searching for explanations regarding their woeful streak.
He expressed: “It’s difficult to say. The fact we didn’t keep a clean sheet for nine games! It’s easy to blame a particular person, the backline or set-pieces. But it’s a collective thing in the end. Everyone has to look in the mirror including myself. I am sure we will get out of this.
“But we won’t do it just by talking about it. We will try to improve. We need each other, we need the support. We need the people who were celebrating with us last year to be with us now even more. We will get out of this because we have the quality offensively and defensively.”
Brentford boss Keith Andrews added: “We knew it would be a difficult game so we’re really, really pleased with how we showed our personality and character and the resilience in the group.
“It’s twice in a row we’ve had a disappointment just before half-time conceding but how we started in the second half was excellent. It is a big result for the clubs to beat the Premier League champions.”