Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight matches at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody 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 Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”