Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in 7 Premier League games at home to Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City before the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we hardly generated anything.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach introduced multiple offensive substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost two successive home league games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered consecutive league games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area 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 create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”