Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.
“No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely generated anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display fell apart as Slot made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home Premier League fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”