Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route Out of Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a 6th loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City before the international break. But the manager conceded the buck stopped 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 examine myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we hardly generated any chances.
“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as Slot made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely stupid.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area 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 almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”