Four consecutive losses! TA: Liverpool’s prospects for defending the Premier League are bleak, with poor performance from new players + poor defense

October 27th: After Liverpool suffered four consecutive defeats in the Premier League, the prospect of defending the title is bleak. TA wrote an article analyzing the serious tactical problems currently facing Liverpool, believing that these problems are far more worrying than the losing streak itself, and have been covered up in the winning streak at the beginning of the season.

The article pointed out that many of Liverpool's conceding methods showed a "copy and paste" pattern, which exposed the team's inability to respond to specific tactics. The first is the defensive chaos at set pieces, especially powerful throw-ins: the first goal conceded against Brentford was exactly the same as the winning goal lost to Crystal Palace. Both were missed in the defense of the second placement of the throw-in, and new aid Kyle Ketz was caught off guard. Slaughter admitted with a wry smile that the only part of training the day before the game was to defend strong foul balls, but the effect was minimal.

The second is the fragility of the defense in transition: Brentford's second goal once again exposed the problem of Liverpool's defense being easily penetrated by counterattacks. The combination of technical midfielders Wirtz, Jones and Szoboszlai lacked confrontation and protection in the midfield, resulting in Van Dijk and Konate being directly exposed to the opponent's impact. The article believes that this situation is similar to that against Bournemouth in the first round of the season. Frankfurt and Atletico Madrid also used counterattacks to punish Liverpool in the European war.

Third, they started slowly and continued to concede first: Liverpool has conceded first in six consecutive games in all competitions, setting an embarrassing record in team history since the 2013-14 season. Brentford's direct play suppressed Liverpool from the beginning. The Red Army won only 7 of 17 aerial duels in the first half.

Fourth, the wing offensive coordination is unfamiliar and the roles of core players are ambiguous: Although Kyle Ketz on the left moved forward, he lacked effective cooperation with Gakpo and even made low-level mistakes. Salah's position on the right became more and more inward, taking the ball with his back more often, and he was reduced to trying inswinging crosses with poor results. When the team pressed, Salah was allowed to "lazy" and stay in the high position, forcing Wirtz to take on more defensive runs. However, the latter obviously lacked physical confrontation and was easily broken through by Ayer many times. Salah's final goal was also a chance obtained through a high steal after the more active running Szoboszlai replaced Wirtz.

The article also criticized Xia Chuang's signing strategy, believing that Slott's lineup was "top-heavy" and lacked depth in the midfield and backcourt. It also had two expensive centers in Ekitic and Isaac but no "natural solution." Isaac in particular has struggled, rarely receiving the crosses from the wings he was used to at Newcastle, and the article warns he could go the way of Collymore or Nunez.

Although Slott mentioned that the recent away trip has affected the team, the article believes that this is the "touchstone" for the championship, and Liverpool failed to show their level this time.