Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route From Slump

Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's opener ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we hardly created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display fell apart as the coach introduced multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”

Charles Miller
Charles Miller

An international business strategist with over 15 years of experience advising multinational corporations on market entry and sustainable growth.