Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City before the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”