Liverpool icon tells three Reds stars to step up after fourth straight loss

Liverpool have lost their last four games in the Premier League, with a defeat at Brentford seeing them drop out of the top four in the table for the first time this season

Former Liverpool star Steve McManaman called on Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Florian Wirtz to take criticism on the chin and help drag the Reds out of their current slump. The reigning Premier League champions lost a fourth straight Premier League game, falling to a 3-2 reverse at Brentford after defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade opened up a 2-0 lead for the Bees as half-time approached, only for Milos Kerkez to pull one back in first-half stoppage-time. Igor Thiago scored a third for the hosts, converting from the penalty spot after Van Dijk’s foul on Ouattara was ruled to have taken place just inside the box, and Salah’s late goal wasn’t enough to rescue the visitors.

“Liverpool made a bit of a fight of it in the last 10 minutes when Mo Salah scored,” McManaman said during TNT Sports’ coverage. “At the end of the game there were a couple of little half-chances but that’s brushing over the fact that Liverpool were beaten tonight, and Liverpool are not playing well, they’re just playing as individuals.

“They’re not miles off it but they are not playing like they did last year. They’re just waiting for moments of magic at times by various people. They’re not playing as a unit, they’re very open and they start to panic, so the football is very chaotic.

“They have to get back to what they did last year, and the good part of last year, and play as a unit and play together, but it’s just all hit and miss at this moment in time. Everybody’s running round all over the place, they’re not solid in midfield because they’re trying to jam players in there… and he [Slot] has to go back, as I mentioned at half-time, to the players he really trusts, who he knows can do it.

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He continued: “They’ve got home games coming up and they have to turn this around, but they had all the platitudes and all the plaudits last year when they were winning games and they were winning the league easily. Now they have to take the criticism on the chin, it’s as simple as that, and they have to respond.

“Mo Salah needs criticism on the chin, Virgil van Dijk needs to take it, Florian Wirtz needs to take it. £100m has been spent on him, he needs to take it, and you know what, they have to respond.”

McManaman’s criticism of Liverpool was in stark contrast to his assessment of Brentford. Keith Andrews’ side have now won back-to-back league games for the first time under their new boss, after a comfortable win at West Ham on Monday night.

“They’ve got a game plan, they stick to it, they work hard, they’ve got a cohesiveness together, they know what their strengths are and they play to their strengths. And they got their just rewards today,” McManaman said.

Liverpool’s defeat means they will end a weekend outside the top four for the first time this season, and are just two points ahead of Brentford. Their next three games are all at Anfield – against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, Aston Villa in the league and Real Madrid in the Champions League – with their next away game coming against Manchester City on November 9.

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