Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route From Slump

Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight matches at home to Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the champions’ poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise 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 excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as the coach made multiple attacking changes when chasing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in 1965.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider 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 entered 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 create opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”

Anne Williams
Anne Williams

A passionate mobile gamer and strategist, sharing insights from years of competitive gameplay.