Liverpool manager Arne Slot has sounded the alarm after his team’s unexpected defeat to Nottingham Forest, stating that “something is wrong.”
This loss marked Slot’s first setback since taking charge, with Forest’s Callum Hudson-Odoi securing the win through a stunning strike.
Following the match, various theories emerged regarding Liverpool’s poor performance, with some pointing fingers at Slot’s team selection.
However, the manager dismissed these claims, attributing the defeat to too many players underperforming rather than rotation issues.
After the match, Slot commented: “Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it’s too simplistic to blame it on rotation. Too many of our players just weren’t at their best. When you drop points at home against Nottingham Forest, it’s a sign that something is off. Forest made it tough for us, and when you don’t win, you start looking for reasons. I prefer to watch the game back to identify what went wrong, and some of it had nothing to do with rotation. We’ll never know if rotating the squad would have changed the outcome.”
Slot has previously refused to make excuses for his team, even when others have offered potential reasons for their struggles. Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy suggested that the players might have been affected by fatigue from the recent international break, but Slot wasn’t convinced.
He responded, “It’s always challenging, but I don’t think the break had anything to do with it. The players came back strong, and I saw a team that was willing to fight until the end. This wasn’t an issue of energy. We had possession most of the time and needed to create from that. If you look at the goals we’ve scored so far, many came from transitional moments when we regained possession. Forest countered that by playing long balls over our press, and we mostly regained possession in our backline.”
Slot continued, “Today just wasn’t good enough. Too many individual performances in possession fell short of the standards I expect from these players.”
Liverpool will look to bounce back quickly as they return to action on Tuesday evening, facing Italian giants AC Milan at the San Siro in their Champions League opener.
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