Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Find Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first 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 strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League fixtures against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.
Slot commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”