Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way From Slump

Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended the defender's first goal ought to 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 admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should examine my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly generated anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive home Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

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

Erica Meyer
Erica Meyer

A tech journalist based in Stockholm, covering Nordic startups and digital transformation with over a decade of experience.