Slot Provides No Excuses and Vows to Find Route Out of Malaise

Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a 6th loss in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the title holders' slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest win at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool slipped to an 8th loss in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But Slot conceded the responsibility rested with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should examine my own role first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we hardly created anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented players 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 something else from doubting your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield Premier League games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to generate chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”

James Alvarez
James Alvarez

A seasoned poker strategist with over a decade of experience in competitive online gaming and coaching.