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Ibrahima Konate has been criticized for his performances at the start of the season, but Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has now been brought into the argument too.
Against Brentford, Liverpool conceded three times, including from a long throw. Though Milos Kerkez and Mohamed Salah both scored, the Reds never really looked convincing, with Arne Slot suggesting at the final whistle that it was the worst performance of the four-game Premier League losing streak.
"The two center-halves, they are all over the place," Alan Shearer said on The Rest Is Football podcast. "They’ve been terrible and they were at Brentford. They were awful, both of them, Van Dijk and Konate."
"They were," Micah Richards agreed. "And I think what we’re seeing now is, Van Dijk needs help. How many times, in previous seasons, has Van Dijk bailed them out?
"You look at partnerships and we’ve always talked about Van Dijk and how good he is. He needs Konate to bail him out at the moment and that’s not happening, so you have two center-halves not playing well at the same time."
Liverpool won in the Champions League against Eintracht Frankfurt last Wednesday but that form didn't translate into its domestic form. The Reds were dismal in West London.
Asked for his take on the result and performance, Slot was blunt with his verdict on what went wrong. "Doing the basics right," he said.
"Although if you are 1-0 down, 2-0 down, 3-1 down with the energy in the stadium, that is definitely helpful for them, and they are a very good team in winning duels and winning second balls.
"So you have to give them credit for that as well, but of course it is hard to win a game of football if the other team wins more duels, more second balls than you — especially if that is also something they are playing off.
"Again, like I've said many times, it's also difficult to win a game of football if the set-piece balance is in their favor."
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On conceding from a long throw, Slot was equally clear with his feelings.
"It's the only thing we did yesterday on the training pitch, preparing for that, and the meeting today," Slot said. "That's not the only thing we prepared them for, because Brentford are also known for very good set-pieces but they are also, in my opinion, known for a fantastic counter-attack and that was their second goal.
"I think at this moment of time, and that's why it should never be seen as an excuse, but if I say it was a soft penalty I hope you guys are not going to tell me that is a bad excuse, but it was a very soft penalty to concede."
Liverpool.com says: There are lots of things that the Reds need to solve at the moment but defending from set-pieces must be high on the list. It wasn't a problem last season and Liverpool needs to improve quickly.
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