Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ poor run.
Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.
“No one wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should look at my own role initially 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 score a strike. Afterwards we barely 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: ‘Where can we improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance fell apart as Slot introduced several offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield league games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening half-hour perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”