Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Of course there is a path forward, 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 improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool last lost two successive home league games against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”