Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Malaise
Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution out of the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.
“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning 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 far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach made several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost two successive home Premier League fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league matches by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to create chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”