Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Malaise

Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in 7 Premier League games at home against Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as Slot made several offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the controlling side and were capable to create chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”

Crystal Meyer
Crystal Meyer

A tech enthusiast and UX designer passionate about creating intuitive digital experiences and sharing knowledge on emerging trends.