Slot Provides No Excuses and Vows to Find Way From Malaise

Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games at home against Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s first goal ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can never provide sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive home league fixtures by Nottingham 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 commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they scored.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow find the net.”

Debra Ross
Debra Ross

A seasoned IT consultant and digital strategist with over 15 years of experience in helping enterprises leverage technology for competitive advantage.

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