Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Find Route From Slump
Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a 6th loss in 7 Premier League matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the title holders' poor run.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the largest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City before the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we hardly created any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects 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 liable when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot made several offensive substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back home Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to create chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow go in.”