Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Plot Route From Malaise
Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds suffered a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the title holders' poor run.
Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly 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, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot introduced several attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost two successive home Premier League games by Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we allow go in.”