Joe Cole has criticized three Liverpool players following the Premier League champions’ 3-2 defeat at Brentford on Saturday. The Bees took an early two-goal lead with goals from Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade, before Milos Kerkez scored just before half-time. Igor Thiago added a penalty in the second half, but Mohamed Salah’s late goal was not enough to secure a win for the Reds.
During his half-time analysis for TNT Sports, Cole specifically called out three Liverpool defenders — Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Kerkez. He remarked on Schade’s goal, stating: ‘The defending is awful from Van Dijk and Konate. But it is a beautiful pass and an unbelievable finish. Kerkez had an awful 45 minutes [in the first half].’
Fellow pundit Steve McManaman echoed similar sentiments, saying: ‘Liverpool have been very, very chaotic and all over the place at times. They are very fortunate they got a late goal [before half time] to get back in the game. I thought Kerkez was poor, I thought [Florian] Wirtz was weak.’
After the match, Cole added: ‘We had drama, quality and passion. [Brentford boss] Keith Andrews has just taken the baton off Thomas Frank and he is just pushing this football club up the table. This is Brentford’s moment. A wonderful performance from the team.’
Slot: I have a clear idea of where we have to improve
Speaking after the defeat, Liverpool manager Arne Slot addressed the media, expressing his thoughts on the team’s performance. He said: ‘What I have to do is look at what we do wrong and what we do right. I have a clear idea of where we have to improve but that hasn’t been the case in other games. We didn’t do the basics right today. Disappointing result and a disappointing performance as well today. Conceding three goals is far too much if you want to win a game of football.’
He went on to explain the causes of the conceding goals, saying: ‘First one was a set-piece. Second is a counter-attack which is one of the things [Brentford] are really good at. We didn’t defend that at all. To be in the game at half-time because we scored and in the second half, the penalty made it impossible to get a result today.’
When asked about Mohamed Salah’s goal, Slot added: ‘Always positive he is scoring a goal. It was a great finish from Mo.’
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