Liverpool star sold for £25m who Arne Slot asked not to leave rubs salt in Reds’ wounds

Liverpool were beaten 3-2 by Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday evening, with Sepp van den Berg impressing at the heart of the Bees’ defence against his former club

Liverpool’s return to form was short-lived as they suffered a disappointing defeat at Brentford on Saturday, despite a midweek victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Arne Slot’s men had previously thrashed the Bundesliga side 5-1 in Germany, leaving Frankfurt boss Dino Toppmoller ruing his former players. Hugo Ekitike, Ibrahima Konate and Dominik Szoboszlai all found the back of the net against their old RB Leipzig assistant coach.

However, Liverpool faced a different fate on Saturday evening when they encountered several familiar faces in London. Although no ex-Reds scored for Brentford, they all contributed to the Bees’ 3-2 triumph.

Jordan Henderson stood out in midfield against his former team, facing Liverpool for the first time since his departure in 2023, while Caoimhin Kelleher made several saves in his first encounter with his old club since leaving Anfield last summer.

READ MORE: Liverpool news: Mo Salah ‘disrespect’ slammed as Arne Slot subject to brutal mockingREAD MORE: Jordan Henderson speaks out on Liverpool struggles after inflicting misery on old club

Sepp van den Berg also put on an impressive display in defence, making a crucial block to deny Mohamed Salah from close range, before helping Keith Andrews’ side secure their 3-2 victory.

The Dutchman managed just four outings for Liverpool after his £1.3million switch in the summer of 2019, but has since flourished at Brentford following successful loan spells in the Championship and Bundesliga, before sealing a move to west London worth up to £25million last year.

Ahead of locking horns with the Reds, he set pulses racing after disclosing that Slot, who had previously managed his fellow countryman at PEC Zwolle during Van den Berg’s teenage years, had actually urged him to remain at Anfield.

“I got a tap on my shoulder,” Van den Berg told the Guardian, recounting how he had unexpectedly encountered Slot in Zwolle before his new boss’s maiden pre-season at Liverpool. “I was a bit surprised. And maybe it was a little bit awkward.

“It was just funny… Coming from the same hometown, he’d coached me when I was a kid and now he’s the guy at Liverpool. He was just like: ‘How’s your off-season been? Have you been working? Are you ready for pre-season?’ I said: ‘Yes, of course.'”.

“But in my own head, I was thinking: ‘Yeah, I’m ready but hopefully I’m not even coming back for pre-season,’ because I wanted to leave. It was totally different (when I started pre-season).

“The years before, I never had this feeling of me having a proper chance. A few weeks down the line, he (Slot) was saying: ‘You’re doing very well. I want you to stay.’ If you have the manager of Liverpool saying that, it’s not nothing.

“So, of course, I started thinking again. ‘Maybe I should stay, maybe I should sign a new contract here.’ It was weird. He was open, easy to speak to.

“We’re both Dutch, so we are very direct. I like that. He told me: ‘You’re not going to start but I believe if you stay you will get a chance in the future to start.'”.

Van den Berg chose to depart anyway, going on to feature 35 times across all competitions for Brentford last term. Whether the opportunities promised by Slot would have materialised had he remained is questionable.

Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate were Liverpool’s unquestioned first-choice centre-back pairing, racking up 49 and 42 appearances respectively across all competitions.

Jarell Quansah and Joe Gomez offered cover, but the former managed just a single Premier League start at centre-back before the title was secured – on the opening day against Ipswich Town when he was hauled off at the interval.

He subsequently secured a £35m switch to Bayer Leverkusen this summer in search of regular first-team football, although the Reds have kept a buyback clause.

Meanwhile, Gomez suffered a nightmare campaign blighted by fitness issues, managing only seven starts in Premier League and Champions League action before a hamstring problem sidelined him for almost the entire second half of the season. Had he remained, Van den Berg’s situation would likely have mirrored the limited roles of Quansah and Gomez as Liverpool clinched the Premier League title.

However, this season might have told a different tale, with the Reds’ defensive struggles continuing and, after offloading Quansah, they’ve already lost new signing Giovanni Leoni to a season-ending ACL injury. Liverpool’s defeat to Brentford marks their fourth loss in their first nine Premier League matches, compared to only four losses in total last season, two of which occurred after securing the title.

Moreover, they’ve let in a staggering 21 goals in their 14 games so far this season, with the Brentford defeat being the eighth time they’ve conceded twice or more. This record has only highlighted their unsuccessful attempt to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace in the summer.

Liverpool tried but failed to strengthen their centre-back options, only for the Eagles to cancel a move for the England international on transfer deadline day. With Slot’s team losing five of their last six matches, starting with a 2-1 defeat at Selhurst Park, fans are increasingly regretting their failed attempt to sign Guehi.

They could be given another stark reminder of their transfer blunder on Wednesday, when they face Palace for the third time this season in the League Cup fourth round at Anfield. Liverpool are still keen on the 25-year-old, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, but they’re not alone in their interest.

With several top-tier European clubs also in the mix, he could sign a pre-contract agreement with any foreign team from 1 January. Whether Liverpool will make a fresh bid for him in January following Leoni’s injury remains to be seen, as it was previously thought they would wait until next summer to snap up the player who will then be available on a free transfer.

Injuries to key defensive players, including Alisson Becker, and the underperformance of new recruit Milos Kerkez have certainly not helped matters. However, it’s evident that Liverpool’s defence is struggling, as both Slot and Van Dijk lamented their backline woes after the defeat to Brentford.

“Teams have a certain playing style against us, which is a very good strategy to play and we haven’t found an answer yet,” Slot confessed. “Going down 1-0 every time doesn’t help either. Teams know which strategy to play against us.

“You cannot even compete, which we don’t do at the moment, we don’t compete up there because we simply concede too many goals. And that is not something I only look at our defence [for], that’s something we do with 11 players together.”

Meanwhile, Van Dijk said: “The fact is that we didn’t keep clean sheets for nine games. It’s easy then to blame a particular person or the back line or set-pieces, but it’s a collective thing in the end as well. Everyone has to look in the mirror, including myself. That’s what we all do and that’s what we all have discussed as well. I’m sure we will get out of this, but we don’t get out of this just by talking about it.

“Obviously I have to come here because you guys ask me to come here, otherwise I would just focus on trying to get back on track with my team. We’ll try to improve, that’s what we work on; it’s not that we’re doing nothing in training or nothing behind the scenes. We all want to improve, that’s why we’re on the pitch as well.

“But it’s tough at the moment. We need each other, we need the support, we need the people that were celebrating with us as well last year to be there for us now even more, and then I’m very confident that we will get out of this because we have the quality offensively, defensively. But the reality is we are looking for a clean sheet but definitely for a win again. That’s the reality.”

The long-term prospects of both Konate and Gomez remain unclear too, adding further complications to the situation.

The French defender, who has been below par for much of the season so far, is also approaching the end of his current deal at the conclusion of the campaign. The England international has only made one start this campaign and attracted attention from AC Milan and Brighton and Hove Albion before the summer transfer window shut.

Had Liverpool secured Guehi’s signature, he would probably have departed. Fans will be praying the Reds bring in fresh defensive reinforcements in January to halt their alarming decline.

However, whilst far from certain, it’s questionable how much impact a new signing would truly have considering their struggles stem partly from the sheer volume of alterations to Slot’s squad and the continuing adjustment phase following a £450m summer splurge.

Naturally, they aren’t alone in facing post-summer upheaval. Van den Berg highlighted that Brentford have grappled with comparable challenges as he expressed his joy at defeating his old employers.

“You have to consider at the start (of the season), a few changes, a new manager,” he told club media. “It’s always difficult. Luckily, it didn’t take too much time.

“Now we are the way we wanted to play and in a very good place now. I was very happy (to beat Liverpool). I think we deserved it.

“The last couple of games, you can see us as a team really came together now and really became one. On Monday (against West Ham) we showed the same character and today again, against the champions of the Premier League last season. We’ve done amazing.

“It’s always nice (to beat your former club). It’s Saturday night, under the lights, Gtech, against Liverpool, former champions.”

Van den Berg has previously expressed his desire to return to Liverpool. Despite no current indications of Liverpool wanting to bring the centre-back back to Anfield, his performance in their recent defeat highlights their ongoing defensive issues.

He serves as a reminder of what they could have had and what they still need to add to their squad despite their significant summer spending. While Van den Berg may not be the ultimate solution at Anfield, he could have potentially addressed an increasingly evident problem.

Instead, he is merely adding insult to injury for Liverpool as Slot grapples with a defensive issue that even the Dutchman admits he has struggled to resolve.

Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.