Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Route From Slump

Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

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

The team's performance unravelled as the coach made multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back home league games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive league games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the whole season, and the first time they entered in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow find the net.”

Brian Valdez
Brian Valdez

Wildlife biologist and sloth conservation advocate with over a decade of field research in Central and South American rainforests.