Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely created any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced several offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”