Arne Slot full press conference as he slams “very bad” Liverpool defeat vs Nottingham Forest | OneFootball

The Reds’ season just goes from bad to worse at the moment, with Slot’s side conceding some really sloppy goals and now sitting all the way down in 11th in the Premier League table.

Slot admitted it was a “very bad” result and insisted he had to take responsibility for the team’s dire recent form.

See below for every word of Slot’s post-match press conference…

Arne Slot’s post Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest press conference in full

On the result…

How bad [the result is], that is difficult to measure, but it was very bad of course. Playing at home, losing 3-0, no matter which team you face is, of course, a very, very, very bad result. Unexpected if you look at the first half-hour of the game [because] in my opinion [it was] a good start from us. [I] haven’t seen us creating so much in the first half-hour of a game maybe throughout the whole season.

I’m not sure because I don’t remember every single game now, but we were able to create a lot. The first time they arrived in our box, they scored a goal and it’s a very difficult cocktail to drink, or to have, if you miss out on your own chances and almost every time you concede one, the ball goes in.

On having players out of position…

We had to start the game with a midfielder at right full-back because both of our full-backs are injured. Joe Gomez is also a player who can play there but hasn’t trained the whole week. I don’t think he was fully ready to start this game. When you’re 2-0 down it’s not, in my opinion, really necessary to bring in a defender. Normally you prefer, at least that’s what I also do, you prefer to bring in players that can score a goal.

After I took Ibou [Konate] off, indeed we played with two midfielders in our last line. That’s true, but we also needed goals. That’s why I brought Hugo Ekitike in for Ibou to bring a player in who can score a goal and just before we conceded the 3-0, I went to a 3-3-4 because I didn’t feel after my first substitution we were able to create a lot. I know, we know, you probably know even better than me, but I am here for one-and-a-half years now and if you score a goal in this stadium something can happen. You need a goal and need something to happen and then after my first substitution with Hugo I don’t think we created a lot. I thought with 2-0 down let’s take an extra risk but that didn’t work out really well because two seconds later we were 3-0 down.

On Forest’s first goal…

During the game, people told me he was in an onside position, so that’s why I wasn’t worried at all. Was he in an offside position, is that 100 per cent sure? Then I have to see it back. Because I heard immediately that he was onside, I didn’t check what the line of vision was. Now, I haven’t had time to see it back, if he was in the line of vision. I’ve seen us conceding three goals this season, against Atletico [Madrid] two and against [Eintracht] Frankfurt one, that were more in the line of vision of the goalkeeper than the one we scored at [Manchester] City, but I think no-one wants to hear from me now talking about refereeing decisions.

If you lose 3-0 against Forest then I should first of all look at myself and my team instead of that. It does show you how a set-piece or how a goal can change momentum and can change the game because before we conceded the 1-0, I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards, we hardly created any chances anymore.

On turning things around…

It is my responsibility. If we win or lose, it is my responsibility. But what I also see is the team and, by the way, our fans as well stay until the end, support the team until the end and the players keep on trying until the end. What I also saw today, but it wasn’t at City – and at City we are not the only team that struggles in the first half – and in every other game we’ve played, we’ve been the dominant team and we were able to create chances.

Like I said, lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and then ones go in that we concede, but that will never continue throughout the whole season. We need to have that moment of energy of scoring a goal. If you are playing well and you go 1-0 up, the other team feels, ‘We’ve played half an hour now and we are 1-0 down and we’ve hardy seen the ball…’ The opposite thing happened – they got a big, big, big energy boost from scoring the 1-0. I see a lot of things where in a normal situation the result would have been different, but we are now in a difficult situation and then you need to do even more to get your results than when things go in your favour.

Arne Slot reacts during Liverpool’s defeat to Nottingham Forest (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

On a “way out” for Liverpool…

Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. I think no matter if you win or you lose, if you make a line-up and if you make substitutions and when you look back you’re always thinking about, ‘Where can we do better? Where can we adjust?’ But that’s something else than doubting yourself.

I want to emphasise one more time on the fact that I’m responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you’re winning, but you’re also responsible when you are losing. Although you asked me that question, not to talk about referee decisions or other excuses, I can never come up with enough excuses to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I’m responsible for that.

On player nerves…

I don’t think so yet. It’s difficult for me to feel what they feel. But if I look at the way we finish these chances, I don’t see a player that’s lacking confidence or is hesitating. For example, the one for Macca [Alexis Mac Allister], I think he hits it perfectly but [it was] defended perfectly as well. No, I don’t think that’s an issue. But it’s difficult for me to judge because I’m not there in that moment. The only thing I can see is that we do create and the finishing is as expected, but the blocks and the saves are also of quality.

On introducing forwards from the bench…

I don’t think we struggled with that. I think we ended up a lot, a lot, a lot of times on our side with Cody [Gakpo] and with Mo [Salah], but we struggled to create a chance [from] that because they were defending with so many players in and around their box. Then if you’ve tried for 75 minutes with four defenders, three midfielders and three attackers – although the defenders were midfielders, but that comes from injuries – then the idea was, but again I’m responsible for that, to make an offensive substitution. Which I did last season as well, took Ibou off and brought Diogo Jota in and one minute later – away at Forest, I mean – we scored the 1-1. Then, it was brave. Now, it is probably stupid.