Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way From Malaise
Arne Slot declared he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games at home to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's display unravelled as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in 1965.
The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to create chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”