As the final whistle blew on Saturday, it condemned Liverpool to their fourth successive Premier League defeat. Something unheard for a defending champion.
A late goal from Mohamed Salah made the scoreline a tad closer at 3-2, but this was yet another frustrating showing in what has been a stunning turn of events this season.
Just a few days ago. the Reds were putting five past Frankfurt on the way to a spirit-lifting Champions League win. The tide had been stemmed, or so we thought. It took the Bees all of five minutes to restore the angst that has been hovering over this club like a dark cloud.
Frankfurt win misleading
While it was nice to finally see a comprehensive Liverpool win for once, hindsight says it must have been taken with a grain of salt.
The German club have one of the worst defensive rates around and they just happened to be even more disorganized than us. Obviously the goals were all well taken, but there was not much threat or pressure from start to finish in that one.
However, coming off such a putrid run, fans and media could be forgiven if they thought that Arne Slot had turned a corner and found something.
Alas, Saturday's miserable performance indicates we might have gone backwards two steps.
While big European wins are always fun and catch headlines, it's these type of matches, away to the Brentford's, Brighton's, Crystal Palace's etc. that really test the resolve and makeup of a squad.
What happened to the Fundamentals?
Slot's newlook Reds are failing those tests on all fronts. The direct and physical approach from Brentford overwhelmed Liverpool at times. Long throws became impossible to defend for world class players.
Brentford, fair play to them, knew exactly what they wanted to do and they executed that gameplan to perfection. As for the reigning champions? They looked lost and listless at times once again.
It's even more frustrating having seen the lads play so well in midweek, so we know it's in there, but at the first hint of things going awry or adversity, the team wilts.
Defensive gaps are still huge and there is a clear disconnect between the expectations from the coaching staff and what the players believe they need to do. That falls right at the feet of Slot.
For whatever reason, his message is falling on deaf ears or he simply has the wrong tactical message, in which case he needs to correct soon or this season could spiral. Defending set-pieces have been a constant issue and only look to be regressing.
Signs of life?
While it is still mostly doom and gloom, there might be a few things that we saw on Saturday that could be spun in a positive way at least.
Milos Kerkez scored his first Liverpool goal following one of the few sweeping attacking moves we've seen from the Reds in league action for awhile.
Salah scored a brilliant goal late on, having taken down Dominik Szoboszlai's ball in and in one fluid motion smashing it in the upper 90. Perhaps that goal can restore some of the confidence that has seemingly left the Egyptian in recent weeks.
Florian Wirtz looked dangerous once again, so he also continues to play well. There's not a lot to love right now, but these things can add up over time to get a club back on track if they keep going well.
Let's hope these silver linings become the norm sooner than later.