Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Way Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a sixth defeat in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the title holders' poor run.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.
“I wish to stress I am accountable 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 reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as Slot introduced several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games by Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow find the net.”