Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Slump

Arne Slot declared he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home against Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool fell to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Later we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality players 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 make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as Slot made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”

Amanda Barnes
Amanda Barnes

A Canadian journalist passionate about sharing diverse cultural narratives and outdoor adventures from coast to coast.