Slot Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route From Malaise

Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in 7 Premier League games at home against Forest and insisted he would find a way from the champions’ slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side contended the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against Manchester City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls 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 squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, 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 improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as the coach introduced multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”

Mary Hernandez
Mary Hernandez

A forward-thinking innovator and writer passionate about creativity, technology, and sharing insights to empower others.