Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.
“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”
The Anfield side last lost two successive home league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to generate opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the ones we allow go in.”