Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Malaise
Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine my own role initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.
“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display fell apart as the coach introduced multiple attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive home league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”