‘Smothered them’ – Brentford manager explains why Liverpool couldn’t cope in West London

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Keith Andrews on Brentford beating Liverpool
Pictures via @footballontnt on X

Liverpool’s Premier League title defence suffered another major setback after Brentford claimed a 3–2 victory, leaving the champions reeling from a fourth consecutive league defeat.

The west London side earned their win over us, with their manager Keith Andrews saying his players “smothered [Liverpool] and didn’t allow them to get out” in an interview with TNT Sports after the match.

Andrews hails Brentford’s resilience against Liverpool

Keith Andrews celebrates against Liverpool
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Andrews praised his side’s organisation, bravery and pressing intensity throughout the 101-minute contest.

“We knew it would be a very difficult game given the level of opposition,” the Brentford boss said.

“But I’m really pleased with how we showed personality, character and resilience. Once we got a grip of the game after 10 to 15 minutes, we were excellent throughout.”

The Bees punished us from yet another long throw, their eighth goal of that kind this season, before Kevin Schade and Igor Thiago added to the tally.

Goals from Milos Kerkez and Mo Salah weren’t enough to rescue a point for Arne Slot’s side, who again looked vulnerable defending transitions.

Joe Cole bemoaned our “lightweight” midfield and it feels that there are many issues that need solving, quickly.

Liverpool have now conceded first in six straight competitive matches, with defensive lapses and tired legs following a midweek trip to Frankfurt clearly taking their toll.

Liverpool’s worrying trend continues

Virgil van Dijk, Ekitike, Konate, Jones and Bradley look despondent vs Brentford
(Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Despite scoring in 43 consecutive Premier League games, the third-longest run in top-flight history, we’ve now matched last season’s total of four league defeats.

Since May, no Premier League side has conceded two or more goals as often as Liverpool (9).

Andrews’ tactical setup mirrored what many of us have feared this season: when teams press high and break quickly, our back line struggles to reset.

The 47-year-old Dutchman will demand a response when we return to Anfield, but as he said himself, every opponent knows how to cause us problems.

You can watch Andrews’ comments on Liverpool via @footballontnt on X:

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2 Comments

  1. We as fans of LFC have been voicing these glaring weaknesses from the start of the season! The big wonder for us is how little to nothing has been done to rectify these weaknesses….and thevsokution lies in two things. Strengthen the backline with 3 quality defenders in the January window, amd look at acquiring two solid midfielders to add depth, and one RW striker to replace Salah. This is the minimum player requirement for the 2026/7 season!! Now it makes sense what Chelsea has been doing with it’s player buying spree….THEY HAVE PLAYER DEPTH.

  2. Some Liverpool fans were voicing concerns in the last few months of last season, but when you win the premier league those weaknesses get overlooked and forgotten. Brentford are one of those premier league teams who have the biggest height advantage in the league they are physically strong. they can’t beat us playing open football in a passing game, so they do whatever they can with the technically Inferior players
    they have. Sinc3 we’ve brought three small lightweight players in frimpong, wirtz and kirkez we were always going to get more problems without the ball. In the 50 years I’ve been a Liverpool fan all the best Liverpool teams had a good midfield, most games are won and lost in the midfield. We don’t have one midfielder who’s a specialist in protecting the defence. Gravenberch is no fabinho. The system has been changed, from 433 to 4231 to accommodate wirtz. Last season gravenberch protected the defence , he was always in front of the back four, now we have attacking midfielders trying to
    do it. Szoboszlai and Jones are now naturally defensive minded. Then there’s the luxury players .
    Luxury players that you don’t care about what they bring defensively, they are in the team to score and make assists. Salah is one, we’ve added another in wirtz. Without the ball it’s asking more from the other midfield players because you know when you lose the ball salah and wirtz wont track back and get the ball back. A combination of the wrong players being bought in the wrong positions that haven’t strengthened, but weakened, and a manager that can’t find a solution to beat poor sides who lump the ball and counter. The premier league is now over, we won’t win it, so how long do you give slot? Because we are now going to struggle to get champions league football next season. Unfortunately most of the problems have been self inflicted by the,manager. FSG HAVE A DECISION TO MAKE. when you are this bad it only improves when you change the manager.

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