Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Route From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way from the champions’ slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in eleven matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display fell apart as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Lately it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”

Jose Huynh
Jose Huynh

A technology strategist with over a decade of experience in digital innovation and business transformation, passionate about making tech accessible.