Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way Out of Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home against Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”