Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Way Out of Malaise

Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool suffered a 6th loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf to Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we barely created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning your abilities.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour maybe the entire season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate opportunities. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we concede go in.”

Tyler Hall
Tyler Hall

A passionate gamer and tech writer with over a decade of experience in the gaming industry.