Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly created any chances.
“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as Slot introduced several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive home Premier League fixtures by Forest in 1963. The last time they lost consecutive league games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”