Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher did not hold back on his former side's performance against Brentford after a dismal first-half display from the Reds.
Jurgen Klopp's men found themselves two goals down at the interval following an Ibrahima Konate own goal and a Yoane Wissa header. In truth, it could have been even worse for Liverpool, with the Bees actually having the ball in the net on two other occasions but offside calls spared the Reds' blushes.
It has hardly been an exceptional season for Liverpool so far, but they had started to show signs of improvement before the World Cup and in their games since the resumption of club football. Despite this, Carragher admitted he wasn't exactly brimming with confidence before kick-off at the Gtech Community Stadium.
He told Sky Sports: "I wouldn’t say I was massively confident (coming into this game), because Liverpool have had problems all season against teams who are physical, when the game has intensity they can’t cope.
"This is a team, let’s not forget, that pride themselves on saying intensity is our identity. They can’t cope with that anymore at this moment. It looks like an ageing team coming to the end, at that was absolutely shambolic that first half."
Klopp raised eyebrows with his half-time substitutions, hooking three players at once in Konstantinos Tsimikas, Harvey Elliot and most notably Virgil van Dijk.
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Analysing the decision, Carragher added: "Could have been anyone, could have been five. He has to make changes at half time, it shows how disappointed he is.
"It’s interesting with the Virgil van Dijk one, whether that’s an injury or if he had to make the change because he has really struggled. Brentford have got joy in behind, he had to make changes because that was an unacceptable 45 minutes from Liverpool."
It has since emerged that Van Dijk must have been carrying some kind of knock, as he returned to the bench in the second-half with strapping on his knee.
From the perspective of the two pundits in the Sky studio in Carragher and Manchester United legend Gary Neville, the analysis marked a shift in the pair's fortunes.
For so long, Neville has been the one left irate at the showings of the club he spent his whole career at while Carragher enjoyed one of the more illustrious chapters in Liverpool's recent history.
Neville's beloved United will end this match-week above their arch enemies in Carragher's Liverpool after the Reds were eventually beaten by three goals to one at Brentford.
