1 week ago
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Former Liverpool player Steve McManaman has urged Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Florian Wirtz to accept criticism and assist in lifting the Reds from their present difficulties.
Liverpool suffered a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, losing 3-2 at Brentford following setbacks against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, and Manchester United. Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade put the Bees 2-0 ahead approaching the interval, before Milos Kerkez reduced the deficit in first-half added time.
Igor Thiago netted a third for the home side from the penalty spot after Van Dijk's challenge on Ouattara was deemed to have occurred just inside the area, while Salah's late strike proved insufficient to salvage a result for the visitors.
"Liverpool made a bit of a fight of it in the last 10 minutes when Mo Salah scored," McManaman remarked during TNT Sports' coverage.
"At the end of the game there were a couple of little half-chances but that's brushing over the fact that Liverpool were beaten tonight, and Liverpool are not playing well, they're just playing as individuals.
"They're not miles off it but they are not playing like they did last year. They're just waiting for moments of magic at times by various people. They're not playing as a unit, they're very open and they start to panic, so the football is very chaotic.
"They have to get back to what they did last year, and the good part of last year, and play as a unit and play together, but it's just all hit and miss at this moment in time.
"Everybody's running round all over the place, they're not solid in midfield because they're trying to jam players in there... and he [Slot] has to go back, as I mentioned at half-time, to the players he really trusts, who he knows can do it.
He continued: "They've got home games coming up and they have to turn this around, but they had all the platitudes and all the plaudits last year when they were winning games and they were winning the league easily. Now they have to take the criticism on the chin, it's as simple as that, and they have to respond.
"Mo Salah needs criticism on the chin, Virgil van Dijk needs to take it, Florian Wirtz needs to take it. £100M has been spent on him, he needs to take it, and you know what, they have to respond."
McManaman's critique of Liverpool was in stark contrast to his assessment of Brentford. Keith Andrews' players have now won back-to-back league games for the first time under their new boss, after a comfortable win at West Ham on Monday.
"They've got a game plan, they stick to it, they work hard, they've got a cohesiveness together, they know what their strengths are and they play to their strengths. And they got their just rewards today," McManaman said.
Liverpool's loss means the team will finish the weekend outside the top four for the first time this season, with a slim two-point lead over Brentford.
The Reds have three consecutive home games on the horizon - facing Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, Aston Villa in the Premier League, and Real Madrid in the Champions League - before their next away fixture against Manchester City on November 9.
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