Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way Out of Malaise

Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home against Forest and affirmed he would find a way out of the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an eighth defeat in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort against City prior to the national team pause. But the manager conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the quality footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

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

The team's display unravelled as the coach made several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

Slot commented: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the initial half-hour maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant side and were capable to create opportunities. Recently it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow go in.”

Timothy Howard
Timothy Howard

A tech journalist with over a decade of experience covering consumer electronics and digital innovation, passionate about making tech accessible.