Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way Out of Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight matches at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely generated anything.
“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when chasing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home league games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”