Slot on dismal Liverpool's 3-0 hammering by Nottingham Forest

NicheSportMedia

Slot on dismal Liverpool's 3-0 hammering by Nottingham Forest  22/11/2025  Anfield, Liverpool, UK

Transcript

00:00How bad a result is that and what do you feel was the problem today?

00:08How bad, that's difficult to measure but it was very bad of course.

00:15Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is of course a very bad result.

00:25Unexpected if you look at the first half hour of the game, in my opinion a good start from

00:33us, haven't seen us creating so much in half an hour, first half hour of a game, maybe

00:40throughout the whole season, I'm not sure because I don't remember every single game

00:43now but we were able to create a lot and the first time they arrived in our box they scored

00:52a goal and it's a very difficult cocktail to drink or to have if you miss out on your

01:01own chances and almost every time you concede one the ball goes in.

01:07You ended the game with two midfielders in defence, at one point you had Jones and Graham back.

01:16It feels like you're having to adapt quite a lot to try and add attackers to keep your shape

01:22and players are out of position.

01:24Yeah, we had to start the game with a midfielder on right full-back because both of our full-backs

01:28are injured and Joe Gomez is a player who can also play there but hasn't trained the whole

01:35week.

01:36I don't think he was fully ready to start this game and when you're 2-0 down it's not really,

01:45in my opinion, really necessary to bring in a defender and normally you prefer, at least

01:50that's what I always do, you prefer to bring in players that can score a goal.

01:53After I took Ibu off, indeed we played with two midfielders in our last line, that's true,

02:02we also needed goals and that's why I brought Hugo in, Ikitike for Ibu to bring a player in

02:10who can score a goal and just before we conceded a 3-0 I went to a 3-3-4 but because I didn't

02:20feel after my first substitution we were able to create a lot and I know, we know, as you

02:26probably even better than me but I'm here for one and a half year now and if you score

02:29a goal in this stadium something can happen so you need something, you need a goal, you

02:33need something to happen and then after my first substitution with Hugo I don't think we

02:38created a lot so I thought with 2-0 down let's take an extra risk but that didn't work out

02:44really well because 2 seconds later we were 3-0 down.

02:51What did you make of the first goal standing with Pendoye in the offside position?

02:57Premier League say he wasn't in Alisson's side but obviously there was a thing that he had

03:03in the offside position.

03:04During the game people told me that he was in an onside position so that's why I wasn't bothered

03:11at all.

03:12Now after the game people tell me that was he in offside position, is that 100% sure?

03:17Premier League say the refs goal of goals checked but I think that he wasn't in the line

03:24of Alisson.

03:25Does that implement that he then was offside because that's of course the big issue.

03:30Then I have to see it back because I heard immediately that he was onside.

03:36I didn't check what the line of vision then was.

03:38Now I haven't had time to see it back if he was in the line of vision.

03:42I've seen us conceding three goals this season against Atletico 2 and against Frankfurt 1

03:49that were more in the line of vision of the goalkeeper than the one we scored at City.

03:53I think no one wants to hear from me now, me talking about referee decision, if you lose

04:023-0 at Forest then I should first of all look at myself and my team instead of that.

04:09But it does show you how a set-piece or how a goal can change momentum and can change the game.

04:17Because before we conceded the 1-0 I think I was just waiting for us to score a goal and afterwards

04:22we hardly created any chance anymore.

04:25You said Ben you should look at yourself first. Do you think you can lead the team out of this slump of results?

04:41Because it's the same sort of things that are happening each week in terms of set-piece goals and missing chances.

04:48I know it's down to players at the end of the day.

04:54No, it's my responsibility if we win or lose, it's my responsibility.

04:59But what I also see is that the team, and by the way our fans as well,

05:03stay till the end, support the team till the end and the players keep on trying till the end.

05:08What I also see today, and that wasn't at City, but at City we were not the only team that struggled in the first half,

05:15but in every other game we've played, we've been the dominant team and we were able to create chances.

05:23And like I said, lately it's almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones that go in that we concede,

05:31but that will never continue throughout the whole season.

05:33But we need to have that moment of energy of scoring a goal.

05:39If you are playing well and you go 1-0 up, then the other team feels like,

05:42we've played here half an hour now and we're 1-0 down and we hardly seen the ball.

05:46But the opposite thing happened.

05:49They got a big, big, big energy boost from scoring 1-0.

05:53So I see a lot of things where in a normal situation the result would have been different,

06:03but we are now in a difficult situation and then you need to do even more to get your results in

06:11than when things go in your favour.

06:13I guess what I was saying, do you doubt yourself at the moment,

06:17or does what you did last season and your careers give you the confidence that there is a way out?

06:24Yeah, of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we are having.

06:29So I think no matter if you win or lose, if you make a line-up and if you make substitutions,

06:35and when you look back you're always thinking about where can we do better, where can we adjust,

06:39but that's something else than doubting yourself.

06:42But I want to emphasise one more time on the fact that I'm responsible for the current losses.

06:50You are responsible when you're winning, but you're also responsible when you are losing.

06:54And that's why I prefer, unless although you asked me that question,

06:58not to talk about referee decisions or other excuses,

07:01I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have.

07:08That is far from good enough and I'm responsible for that.

07:15You mentioned that you've created your chances,

07:20but do you worry that the players are becoming too nervous, too pressurised for the goal?

07:25Because it seems when you win for the first time in a long time Liverpool haven't scored in consecutive games,

07:29does that become like a compound problem?

07:33I don't think so yet.

07:35It's difficult for me to feel what they feel,

07:42but if I look at the way we finish these chances,

07:46I don't see a player that's lacking confidence or is hesitating.

07:51For example, the one with Maka, I think he hits it perfectly, but defended perfectly as well.

07:58So no, I don't think that's an issue, but it's difficult for me to judge because I'm not there in that moment.

08:10The only thing I can see is that we do create and the finishing is as expected,

08:15but the blocks and the saves are also of quality.

08:21I mentioned the attempt to go to a 3-3-4.

08:27Can you explain your thinking behind that?

08:30Because sometimes it seems forwards on, but they'll need to get the ball progressive too.

08:36Sorry, last one.

08:37The players struggle to get the ball actually?

08:40No, I don't think we struggled with that.

08:42I think we ended up a lot, a lot of times on our sides with Cody and with Mo,

08:47but we struggled to create a chance of that because they were defending with so many players in and around their box.

08:54So then if you've tried for 75 minutes with four defenders, three midfielders and three attackers,

09:01although the defenders were midfielders, but that comes from injuries,

09:05then the idea was, but again, I'm responsible for that,

09:09to make an offensive substitution, which I did last season as well,

09:14took Ibu off, brought Djoko Jota in and one minute later away at Forest, I mean, we scored the 1-1.

09:21Then it was brave, now it's probably stupid.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended