Andy Robertson delivered a blunt assessment after Liverpool’s 3–2 defeat to Brentford, arguing the side failed to follow the game plan and did not show the necessary fight. Milos Kerkez reduced the deficit for Liverpool, but Brentford held a two-goal cushion before Igor Thiago converted a 60th-minute penalty. Mohamed Salah’s late goal proved only a consolation.

Robertson said the team were simply “not good enough.” He singled out defending from set plays and the battle for second balls as decisive weaknesses. “We didn’t do enough off the ball,” Robertson fumed. “They’re always going to be ready to put bodies in the box when it comes to set pieces, put the balls in behind, pick up second balls. You know what you’re going to come to, here. They’re always the same and they’re so good at it.

“It felt to me like we were just a yard off it in terms of that. They picked up so many second balls, and then the balls in behind.”

The opening Brentford goal came from a Michael Kayode long throw, and Ouattara’s swipe was the sixth set-piece goal Liverpool have conceded this season. Only West Ham United have shipped more set-piece goals.

Robertson continued to emphasise tactical preparation and work-rate, noting Arne Slot had focused on long throws in training: “the only thing we did yesterday on the training pitch.” He warned that opposing teams always have a plan and highlighted Liverpool’s failure to impose their own. “We didn’t play ours at all. That makes it so difficult.”

He also called for greater physical commitment: “You have to fight for the control, you have to fight first of all,” he warned. “You have to fight for the second balls, fight for the first balls, and try and feel your way into the game. And then the quality will come through.”

With a congested schedule ahead, Robertson stressed the response must be practical. “We’ve got to work harder. In training, in games, recovering better. When you’re at this football club, people demand results. In a difficult moment, the only way to get out of it is to work even harder, run that bit more and look after yourself that bit better. And that’s what we’ve got to do.”

“There’s no time to re-group,” the fullback fretted. “We’ve got games, games, games. Sometimes it can be a good thing that you’ve got such a quick turnaround and we can go again.”

A referee injury and a subsequent VAR intervention extended the second half of the Premier League meeting at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday. The match was held up after the break when the original official, who had been booed off the pitch to end the first half, did not continue. Robinson came out to resume play amid audible discontent from some spectators.

The first half itself had run longer than the minimum added time. A minimum of three minutes had been signalled, but the interval ended with nearly five additional minutes. That extra time allowed Milos Kerkez to cut Liverpool’s deficit in half before the interval.

Play was halted again about 15 minutes into the second half when VAR reviewed an incident on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area. Dango Ouattara was fouled by Virgil van Dijk on the edge of the box and the decision on the pitch was initially a free kick for the hosts. Stockley Park then directed play to be stopped while the incident was scrutinised.

Following the review, officials judged the contact to have occurred on the line and awarded a penalty. Igor Thiago converted from the spot, beating Giorgi Mamardashvili and restoring the two goal lead for the hosts.

Liverpool had arrived at the fixture having snapped a four-game losing run with an emphatic midweek result against Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite that boost, they found themselves two goals down in the first half through strikes from Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade. Milos Kerkez’s late first-half effort reduced the margin, but the penalty early in the second half moved the hosts back to a two-goal advantage and overshadowed Kerkez’s contribution before the interval.

The match was defined as much by the interruptions and VAR process as by the goals, with the referee situation and the subsequent review shaping the opening stages after the break.

Arne Slot has suggested a clear link between Liverpool’s summer changes and Mohamed Salah’s sharp reduction in attacking output this season. Salah arrives at Saturday’s trip to Brentford without a non-penalty goal in any of his previous seven Premier League appearances, the worst run of his Liverpool career, per Opta.

Opponents have openly targeted the winger, sensing he is less likely to track back and that Liverpool are less dangerous in transition. When asked whether the absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool for Real Madrid in June, had affected Salah, Slot offered a cautious acknowledgement. “Maybe his whole Liverpool [career] he played with Trent, so it could [be that],” he said. “But he’s been in promising positions often enough to score goals, maybe with Trent even more. But in general, if you have quite a few changes in the summer you have to find new connections. Mo is no exception to this.”

Every key attacking metric for Salah has declined from 2024–25 to 2025–26: goals (0.77 to 0.25), xG (0.68 to 0.30), shots (3.46 to 1.89), shots on target (1.64 to 0.76), touches in the opposition box (10.5 to 6.2), assists (0.48 to 0.25) and chances created (2.37 to 2.02). Stats provided by Opta. Correct as of Oct. 24, 2025.

Last season Alexander-Arnold delivered 147 line-breaking passes to Salah in the Premier League, a total that outstripped any other pairing in the division. Without that supply, Salah has struggled to forge a consistent rapport with a rotating line of right-backs this term.

Slot remains confident in Salah’s quality. “The way he trains, and when we do finishing drills, you cannot lose that,” he insisted. “The only thing is we have to keep bringing him into those positions and he has to bring himself into those positions.

Benchings in Europe have been a recent development. After a limp defeat to Galatasaray at the end of September, Liverpool produced a new-look frontline and romped to a 5–1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt with Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz flanking an Ekitiké-Alexander Isak double act. Slot said Salah was unhappy at being left out but viewed that reaction positively. “I hope he is not ever going to take it well, because the moment you are going to take it well then you miss the fire,” he argued.