Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a 6th loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we barely created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose 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 your abilities.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as the coach introduced several offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back league games by a three-goal margin was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”