Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route Out of Malaise
Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in 7 Premier League matches on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the title holders' poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth loss in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.
“I want to stress I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
The team's display unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league games by a three-goal margin was in 1965.
The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to create chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we allow go in.”