Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Route Out of Malaise
Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a 6th loss in 7 Premier League matches at home to Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we barely generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot introduced several offensive substitutions when chasing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”