Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution out of the champions’ poor run.
Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely created any chances.
“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 doubting your abilities.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made multiple offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s likely stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.
“It wasn’t at City, but in all other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to create chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”