Slot Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way Out of Malaise

Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the international break. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at my own role initially and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as the coach made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games against Forest in 1963. The last time they lost back-to-back league games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”

Gary Rodriguez
Gary Rodriguez

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