Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Way Out of Slump
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth loss in seven English top-flight games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.
“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role initially 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. Afterwards we barely created any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach introduced several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant side and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”