Slot Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Malaise
Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League games on their own turf to Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the international break. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely generated anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach made multiple offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”