Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route Out of Slump
Arne Slot stated he had to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the champions’ slump.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wants to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine my own role first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. 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 far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”
The team's performance fell apart as Slot introduced multiple offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot commented: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the dominant side and were able to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”