Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Way From Slump
Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City before the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly created any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as the coach made several offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in 1965.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the first time they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”