Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way Out of Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds suffered a 6th loss in 7 Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”

Benjamin Moody
Benjamin Moody

A digital strategist with over a decade of experience in tech innovation, specializing in user-centric design and sustainable business growth.