Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route From Malaise

Arne Slot declared he had to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight games on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would find a way from the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield 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 1965.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the controlling team and were able to create opportunities. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we allow go in.”

Michael Marshall
Michael Marshall

Elara is a seasoned gaming analyst with a passion for uncovering the best online casino deals and strategies.