Liverpool’s poor string of results took on a rather notorious entry as the defending Premier League winners lost, at Anfield, to a Nottingham Forest that began the day staring at the relegation places.
Losing 3-nil to a club at the bottom of the table feels, quite literally, like the type of result that might cause one to, well, feel like they’d reached the bottom.
There’s no way to tell what the rest of the season will bring, but fans can at least be assured that no one in Red is feeling easy about this current run of results. Least of all, head coach Arne Slot.
Slot was asked during the post-match press conference about this string of losses and if he felt like Liverpool’s form might bounce back. The Dutchman was quite candid in his response.
“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.”
The result itself is, as noted above, shocking due to the perceived gap in realities between the two teams. The common brag that the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world, notwithstanding. Similarly, Slot provided a rather honest assessment.
“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.”
I think the most revealing set of answers – besides a thoughtful response to folks directly questioning his personnel decisions – relayed what I felt while watching: a seeming disbelief on how in this specific match, the attack finally got off to a bright start while then hitting the wall and conceding in what feels like the first earnest chance.
“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.”
I think the gaffer has quite the job to do. And it’s possible that even if Slot manages to squeeze something out of this season – strong cup runs and clinching Top4, for example – I cannot write off him getting the sack, even if I would personally opt to give him more time.
But his response to that question is a bit affirming because what I saw at Forest felt just as he described: every chance created by Forest became a goal. Meanwhile, Liverpool found great positions and either had the wrong player meet the ball, or Forest’s committed defense forced a block or deflection.
It’s tough to say because the margins in top flight football are razor thin, but there is a feeling in me that Liverpool’s mired in a bit of rough luck. A bounce here, a decision there and Liverpool’s results might look quite different.
But this profession doesn’t trade in what-ifs. I’m sure the boss and his charges know that.
Here’s hoping they’re able to right the ship before it’s too late.
