Jurgen Klopp admits that Liverpool were unable to cope with Brentford’s “chaos” theory in their shocking 3-1 defeat on Monday.
From a corner kick in the 19th minute, Thomas Frank’s team took the lead, which was a sign of bad things to come.
Mee tried to flick the ball on, but Konate got the last touch as the ball bounced off his knee and went past Alisson, who was caught off guard.
Liverpool were lucky to avoid more set-piece trouble when Wissa scored from close range after the Reds failed to clear a corner. Brentford would have won, but for an offside call.
Moments later, Wissa was left alone and scored from yet another dangerous corner. Mee’s offside flag saved Liverpool’s face again, though.
Brentford’s threat from the air was too much for Liverpool to handle, and Wissa scored the game’s only goal in the 42nd minute.
Mathias Jensen sent a cross to Wissa, and the Congo forward got in front of Trent Alexander-Arnold to score with a header that Alisson couldn’t get back.
Klopp was angry on the sidelines as he yelled at his players, who looked like they were in shock.
At halftime, the Germans responded by putting on Joel Matip, Andrew Robertson, and Naby Keita. Virgil van Dijk was also replaced because he hurt his leg.
Klopp made some changes, which gave Liverpool a short burst of energy. In the 50th minute, Oxlade-Chamberlain headed home Alexander-pinpoint Arnold’s pass to cut the lead in half.
But Brentford’s game-winning goal was a self-inflicted wound on Liverpool’s part. Konate fell down when Mbeumo passed a long ball to him, and Mbeumo ran free to put the ball past Alisson.
“Brentford create chaos with set-pieces. When I say they stretch the rules, they do, in offensive set-pieces,” Klopp said.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s smart, but they do. If you could single out all the situations you would find five fouls but because it’s so chaotic no one sees it in the end.”
“You know before the game how strong they are from corners. The game got decided by the second goal which was our fault,.
“We are not awake, they cross the ball and score the second that decided the game. The third goal should not have been allowed but we should have played better.”
Photo by EPA/Kieran Galvin
