Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Slump

Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds suffered a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the champions’ poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side argued the defender's opener ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine my own role first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we barely created anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win 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 stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced several attacking substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s likely stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive home league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the first time 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 side and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we concede go in.”

Hector Patterson
Hector Patterson

A seasoned gaming technology analyst with over a decade of experience in slot machine design and industry trends, based in Berlin.