Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way From Slump

Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a 6th loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed 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 Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role initially and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly created any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality players 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 adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise 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 sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”

Thomas Moran
Thomas Moran

A passionate gamer and tech writer with over a decade of experience in the gaming industry.