Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” following the Reds endured a sixth defeat in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the title holders' slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wants to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach made several offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow go in.”