Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Way From Malaise
Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in 7 Premier League games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.
“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made multiple attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”
Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede go in.”