Thomas Frank admitted he took a ‘brave’ decision against Liverpool that nearly paid off as the Reds recorded a narrow 1-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah’s early strike earned all three points for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but they didn’t have things all their own way as the Bees fought in vain for a share of the spoils.
Playing a high line and pressing Liverpool hard, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Fabinho were all booked as they tried to stop Brentford attacks. Meanwhile, Alisson Becker was shown a yellow card for time-wasting, with Frank using such a fact to highlight that his side were unlucky and had done something right against the Reds.
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“I think we, in many ways, performed enough to get something from this game,” the Dane told reporters. “Besides one thing (the quality for the final cross), very happy with the performance.
“We started well first half. They had the goal and the chance for Nunez. The rest we were on top of defensively. The goal, we could have done better in a few situations. Besides that, I think we got better and better.
“I think our high pressure was really good and it frustrated them and caused problems. We were very close to creating some dangerous chances from winning it high. We were brave to be high because we know it is the team with probably the most pace in going behind, but we still took that risk and were willing to take that risk.
And then we have the marginal offside call, disallowed goal which could have changed the game.
“When Van Dijk, Konate, and Fabinho, their three central defensive players get a yellow, then we’ve probably done something right as well. And a yellow card to Alisson, at Anfield, against Brentford, for time-wasting. Overall satisfied but disappointed we lost.”
Frank pointed to Liverpool’s added quality in their squad as the reason for his side’s loss, but pointed out the difference in Brentford’s Anfield result to their 3-0 loss in the same fixture last season.
“I guess maybe the difference is the two teams’ squad,” he said. “I think Gakpo, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. These new front four players made it…
“If you look at this game and compare to last year where we clearly lost 3-0, basically weren’t in the game at all, then it’s a huge development.”
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