Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route Out of Slump

Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against Manchester City before the international break. But Slot conceded the buck rested 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 Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put 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.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we concede go in.”

Jeremy Daniels
Jeremy Daniels

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in tech consulting and innovation management across European markets.

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