Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a 6th loss in seven English top-flight games at home to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now speaking 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 squad, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

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

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”

Brittney Juarez
Brittney Juarez

A software developer and gaming enthusiast passionate about exploring new technologies and sharing practical insights.