Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in seven Premier League games at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.
“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's performance unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost back-to-back home league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, 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 controlling side and were capable to create chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”