Liverpool's Manager Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Way From Malaise
Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th loss in eleven matches in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Afterwards we barely created anything.
“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present 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 results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot made several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably unwise.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.
The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”