"It reminds me of Wenger's Arsenal" - Jamie Carragher gives damning verdict about Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool after loss aginst Brentford
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has criticized the Reds’ display against Brentford, claiming that Jurgen Klopp’s side now reminds him of Arsene Wenger’s struggling Arsenal.
The Merseysiders traveled to the Gtech Community Stadium for their Premier League clash with Brentford on Monday, 2 January. The 19-time English champions were way below their best against the Bees, succumbing to an embarrassing 3-1 defeat. It was Brentford’s first win over Liverpool since 1938.
I’ve not been watching a Klopp team for a lot of this season, it’s a team now that cannot cope with the intensity of the opposition. It reminds me of WENGER’s Arsenal, going from a powerful & pacy team to a technical one. Defensively it’s a shambles. #BRELIV
Carragher was disappointed with his former team’s performance on Monday night and took to Twitter to share his thoughts. He stated that Klopp’s current team reminded him of Wenger’s Arsenal, who could not cope with the opposition's aggression. The Englishman wrote:
“I’ve not been watching a Klopp team for a lot of this season, it’s a team now that cannot cope with the intensity of the opposition.
“It reminds me of WENGER’s Arsenal, going from a powerful & pacy team to a technical one. Defensively it’s a shambles.”
Arsenal won the Premier League twice in Wenger’s 22-year reign. In the last couple of seasons of his tenure (2016-17, 2017-18), Arsenal had a hard time matching the opposition’s intensity. They played eye-catching football but finished out of the top four in both seasons (fifth in 2016-17 and sixth in 2017-18).
Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk suffer as Liverpool fall to shock 3-1 defeat at Brentford
Liverpool’s centre-back pairing Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk both suffered as the Reds succumbed to a 3-1 defeat away from home. Konate scored an own goal while Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo each scored a goal to fire Brentford to a historic win. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored the Merseysiders’ only goal.
Konate was responsible for two of Brentford’s three goals on Monday. In the 19th minute, he failed to get his leg out of the way of Mbuemo’s corner. The ball took a deflection off him and deceived Alisson. Again in the 84th minute, Mbuemo breezed past him inside the Reds’ box, completely outmuscling him before applying a tidy finish.
Ibrahima Konaté is better than William Saliba they said… https://t.co/H9ME1Ggfwo
Van Dijk, on the other hand, lost in a footrace to Mbuemo in the 18th minute, but his blushes were saved by Alisson’s decisive keeping. The Liverpool no. 4 looked like a shadow of his confident self and struggled to provide adequate cover for his teammates. Klopp hooked the Netherlands international off at half-time, possibly due to muscle overload.
The defeat leaves Liverpool in sixth place in the Premier League standings, 15 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.