Football: We were not awake, laments Klopp as Brentford rattle Liverpool with 3-1 victory

LONDON – Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool were unable to cope with Brentford’s “chaos” theory in a shock 3-1 defeat on Monday that damaged their bid for a top-four finish in the English Premier League.

Klopp’s side endured a nightmare start to 2023 and they had only themselves to blame for the horror show in west London.

Ibrahima Konate’s first-half own goal set the tone for an evening scarred by mistakes at the back from the Reds.

Yoane Wissa doubled Brentford’s lead and, although Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back, Bryan Mbeumo wrapped up Brentford’s first victory against Liverpool since 1938.

In his first appearance since playing in France’s World Cup final defeat by Argentina in December, Konate took a large share of the blame for Liverpool’s woeful defensive performance.

But the centre-back was far from alone in deserving criticism for a Liverpool display that left them in sixth place. They are four points behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who played their game in hand against Bournemouth on Tuesday. That result was not available at press time.

Rocked by Liverpool’s first defeat in five league games, Klopp conceded Brentford’s clever set-piece tactics were too much for his players to handle.

“Brentford create chaos with set pieces. When I say they stretch the rules, they do, in offensive set pieces,” he said.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s smart but, if you could single out all the situations, you would find five fouls. But because it’s so chaotic, no one sees it in the end.”

Regarding the pushing and holding at set pieces, Klopp also said there was no point raising complaints with Premier League referees as it is like speaking to a microwave.

“Actually that’s exactly the same as I would talk to my microwave, you get no response, really. It’s always the same,” he said.

“Before the season, they gave us advice that the players have to be careful in these moments because the refs will have an eye on it. You see in these games pretty much everything is allowed, it’s always on the edge and they are using it.”

Although Brentford are on a six-game unbeaten run in the league, including an impressive win at champions Manchester City just before the World Cup, it was still surprising to see Liverpool torn apart so easily.

“You know before the game how strong they are from corners. The game got decided by the second goal, which was our fault,” Klopp added.

“We are not awake, they cross the ball and score the second that decided the game. The third goal should not have been allowed but we should have played better.”

Darwin Nunez, signed from Benfica for £64 million (S$104 million) in the summer of 2022, was another poster boy for Liverpool’s struggles.

The 23-year-old had 13 shots without scoring in his previous two league games and misfired again in the early stages.

Mohamed Salah’s superb pass unhinged the Brentford defence and Nunez looked certain to end his barren run when he rounded David Raya.

But Ben Mee scampered back to clear his shot off the line as Nunez held his head in disbelief.

Brentford were missing their top scorer Ivan Toney through injury but made their more illustrious opponents suffer with their intense game plan.

“Ivan is such a key player for us and has been fantastic in many ways,” said their coach Thomas Frank.

“If you ask me if I want to play him, I’ll say ‘‘Yes, of course’. But we need more than 11 players and I’m so pleased that Wissa came in and scored.

“I can’t praise the players enough, they are incredible. The attitude, effort, hard work and togetherness – everything they put together to beat a team like Liverpool.” AFP, REUTERS