Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home against Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we hardly created any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are responsible 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 not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
Slot commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the whole season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were able to create chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”