Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Plot Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.
Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 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 many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we allow go in.”