Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the title holders' poor run.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we hardly generated any chances.
“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely stupid.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.
“It wasn’t at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”