Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Vows to Plot Route Out of Malaise

Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself initially 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 strike. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display fell apart as the coach made multiple offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures against Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

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

“It did not happen at City, but in all other game we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”

Chad Nichols
Chad Nichols

A tech enthusiast and gaming analyst with over a decade of experience in software development and digital entertainment trends.