When Fight Fades: Liverpool's Rough Day in London Against Brentford

After the final whistle

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson criticized his side's display against Brentford, saying the team lost their fighting spirit in key moments of the match.

The Scot admitted Liverpool abandoned their shape and allowed Brentford to come out of the press, conceding a deserved defeat.

Liverpool suffered a fourth successive league loss, going down 2-3 to Brentford in London and slipping to sixth in the Premier League, behind Manchester United for the first time in a long spell.

The upcoming schedule looks brutal with fixtures against Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Real Madrid, and Manchester City before the international break.

Robertson, who came on in the second half, told Liverpool TV: "We didn’t do enough without the ball. In the first half we created some moments and kept it reasonably, but you can’t expect to dominate the game on possession alone here; Brentford are always ready to fight."

He added: "They’re always ready to fill the box with crosses, launch long balls behind our defense, and chase the second ball. You know exactly what you’re up against here."

He said he felt Liverpool were one step behind; Brentford won most second balls and sustained pressure, forcing the back line to sprint back repeatedly. Despite work on long throws and set-pieces in training, Liverpool conceded three long throws in quick succession and were punished from one of them.

"This is not acceptable," he said. "We played the way they wanted and made things hard on ourselves. We fought, but the performance wasn’t close to the standard required. You have to fight for control. No team in the Premier League will hand you the ball and say, here you go, take it and defend—that never happens."

Robertson also hinted at a lack of a clear identity, noting that other teams have well-defined plans against them and managers often have a full week to prepare, while Liverpool failed to execute their own plan.

"If you think you’ll walk in and the opposition will let you control the game while you wait to score, that won’t happen. This is my ninth season here; perhaps it has happened once or twice. If we expect it again, that’s a big problem."

He continued: "We must fight for the first and second balls, feel the game gradually, and only then will the technical quality show. We didn’t control the match today; there were moments, but not enough to put them under real pressure."

Liverpool conceded early after five minutes when a Brentford long throw wasn’t cleared and bounced to Dango Ouattara, who put the hosts ahead.

Kevin Schade added a second for Brentford on the stroke of half-time, and Milos Kirkez pulled one back for Liverpool just before the break, with three minutes of stoppage time added amid controversy.

In the 60th minute, Brentford extended their lead with a successful penalty from Igor Tiago. Mohamed Salah pulled one back with a spectacular half-volley, sparking a late Liverpool surge, but it wasn’t enough to level matters.

Robertson summarized the half by saying that at the break they perhaps didn’t deserve to be behind, yet the second half began with Brentford pressing higher, reclaiming set-pieces and rhythm, and Liverpool failed to build after scoring.

"The game became chaotic and lacked structure, and that’s not good enough for Liverpool," he said. "In tough times, the only way out is more work, more running, and better self-care."

We’ll see if Liverpool can bounce back in their next tests and restore a sense of balance to their game.

Punchline time: If football were a math test, Liverpool forgot to carry the one and ended up with a very, very messy equation. Second punchline: Brentford’s plan was simple—cross, wait, score; Liverpool tried a fancy algorithm and got lost in the syntax.”