Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Route From Malaise
Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a 6th loss in seven English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the title holders' slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City before the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we barely created any chances.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
The team's display unravelled as the coach made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league games against Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”