Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 Premier League games at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against Manchester City before the international break. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost consecutive league games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face 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 initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they entered in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”

Michael Smith
Michael Smith

Lena is a seasoned sports analyst and betting enthusiast with over a decade of experience in the gambling industry, specializing in European football and tennis.