Slot Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Plot Route Out of Malaise

Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in 7 Premier League games on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can not come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced multiple offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home Premier League fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the first time they entered in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we allow find the net.”

Neil James
Neil James

A tech journalist and digital strategist with over a decade of experience covering emerging technologies and their impact on society.