Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Way Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus City before the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance unravelled as Slot introduced multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost two successive home Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered consecutive league matches by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our chances and the ones we concede go in.”