Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in 7 Premier League matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we hardly created anything.
“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced multiple offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in all other game we have been the controlling team and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede go in.”