Arne Slot has admitted he was taken aback by the extent of Liverpool's recent slump in form, following their 3-2 defeat at Brentford. This marks their fourth consecutive loss, leaving their Premier League title defense in a precarious position. The Reds now risk falling seven points behind league leaders Arsenal.
"Disappointing, again," Slot said. "I was hoping for and expecting a better performance. It was far from what we are used to. Even when we have been losing, our performances were better than tonight". He acknowledged that opposing teams seem to have developed effective strategies against them, and Liverpool has yet to find an answer. Slot stressed the importance of competing, something he feels the team is currently failing to do due to conceding too many goals.
Slot admitted that the significant changes made during the summer transfer window could be a contributing factor to the team's struggles. However, he confessed that he did not anticipate such a drastic downturn, with four losses in a row.
Liverpool conceded an early goal due to their inability to handle Brentford's long throws, despite having specifically practiced defending against them in training. Dango Ouattara scored after just five minutes, capitalizing on a long throw that was nodded on by Kristoffer Ajer. The second goal arrived just before halftime, with Kevin Schade scoring after a pass from Mikkel Damsgaard. Milos Kerkez managed to pull one back, and Mohamed Salah ended his goal drought, but it wasn't enough to spark a comeback.
Adding to Liverpool's woes, Mohamed Salah's form has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. He was dropped to the bench for the last two Champions League fixtures and has only managed three goals in all competitions, a figure surpassed by summer signing Hugo Ekitiké. Salah's goalless run in the Premier League extended to seven games (excluding penalties), marking the worst period of his Liverpool career. Opponents have seemingly identified his reluctance to track back, making them less fearful of being punished in transition.
Slot has suggested that Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure to Real Madrid in June might be a factor in Salah's struggles. He acknowledged the strong connection between the two players, noting that Salah played his entire Liverpool career with Alexander-Arnold. The absence of Alexander-Arnold's supply line seems to have impacted Salah's ability to get into promising positions. "Maybe his whole Liverpool [career] he played with Trent, so it could [be that]," Slot conceded. "But he's been in promising positions often enough to score goals, maybe with Trent even more. But in general, if you have quite a few changes in the summer you have to find new connections. Mo is no exception to this".
Statistics highlight the decline in Salah's attacking output. Last season, Alexander-Arnold delivered 147 line-breaking passes to Salah in the Premier League, the most between any two players in the league. Without Alexander-Arnold's creativity, Salah has struggled to form a similar understanding with the new right backs.
Despite these challenges, Slot maintains confidence in Salah's ability. "The way he trains, and when we do finishing drills, you cannot lose that," Slot insisted. "The only thing is we have to keep bringing him into those positions and he has to bring himself into those positions". Slot believes that if he had to choose one player to score from 12-13 yards out to save his life, he would pick Salah. He stressed the need for Salah to get into those scoring positions.
