Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way From Malaise
Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds suffered a 6th loss in seven Premier League matches at home to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.
Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool argued the defender's opener ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against City before the international break. But the manager conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, 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 responsible when you are losing. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back league matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”