Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow go in.”