Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight games at home to Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely created any chances.
“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as Slot made multiple offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”
Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow find the net.”