Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Way From Slump
Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”
Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield 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 commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling side and were able to create chances. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”