Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the title holders' poor run.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I wish to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”