Slot Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way From Slump
Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth loss in 7 Premier League matches on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side contended the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's disallowed effort against Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely created any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot introduced several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”
The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.
The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the ones we concede go in.”