Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.
“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely generated any chances.
“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. 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.”
The team's performance fell apart as the coach made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”