Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in 7 Premier League games at home to Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient excuses 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 made several attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”

Sean Hall
Sean Hall

A passionate designer with over a decade of experience in digital and print media, dedicated to sharing innovative ideas.