Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.
“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”