Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Way Out of Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we barely created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot introduced multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”

Joel Benson
Joel Benson

A certified personal trainer and wellness coach with over a decade of experience in helping individuals achieve their fitness goals.