Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way From Malaise

Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in 7 Premier League games on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would find a way from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th loss in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus City prior to the international break. But Slot conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display fell apart as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”

Mary Hernandez
Mary Hernandez

Maya is a tech enthusiast and gaming journalist with a passion for exploring emerging digital trends and innovations.