Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Way From Slump

Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in 7 Premier League games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest win 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, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself first and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, particularly with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you triumph 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 stress I am accountable for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as Slot made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home Premier League games against Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered back-to-back league games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were able to create chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede go in.”

Carolyn Dunn
Carolyn Dunn

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