Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Way Out of Malaise

Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds endured a sixth defeat in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the champions’ slump.

Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But Slot conceded the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium 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 flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly created anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I wish to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach made several offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s probably stupid.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling team and were capable to create opportunities. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”

Kathryn Campbell
Kathryn Campbell

A passionate gamer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in game journalism and community building.