6 defeats in 7 league games
©IMAGO
Liverpool FC is still in deep crisis and master coach Arne Slot is increasingly being criticized. The 3-0 defeat on Saturday against Nottingham Forest, which had also been fatally weak until coach Sean Dyche took over at the end of October, was the sixth defeat from the last seven Premier League games. In the international form table, only four teams have scored fewer points in the top 5 leagues over the same period; Liverpool is level with VfL Wolfsburg and Hellas Verona with three points.
Since the league was founded in 1992, only three defending champions have had fewer points on their account after twelve games than the now eleventh-placed Reds (18): Blackburn 1995/96, Chelsea 2015/16 and Leicester 2016/17. If things go really badly, Liverpool will even be overtaken in the table by city rivals FC Everton on Monday evening – the Toffees will then play at Manchester United (9 p.m.). Before the international break, Liverpool lost 3-0 at Manchester City. The last time the 20-time English champions suffered two defeats with a difference of three goals was in 1965.
The “Liverpool Echo” spoke of an “unthinkable decision” to dismiss Slot, but it “simply cannot continue.” The coach himself said after the game: “It was very bad. Playing at home and losing 3-0, no matter what team, is a very, very bad result.” It was unexpected given what was actually a dominant first half, but Nottingham scored a goal from every chance and Liverpool missed their own. First Murillo scored for the Dyche team in the 33rd minute, then Nicolò Savona (46th) and finally Morgan Gibbs-White (78th). DFB national player Florian Wirtz was missing.
This is what Arne Slot says about Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat against Nottingham
“I would like to emphasize that I am responsible for the current defeats,” said Slot. “You’re responsible when you win, but also when you lose. I can never find enough excuses to justify our results. That’s nowhere near good enough, and I’m responsible for that.”
This also applies to the decision to initially leave Hugo Ekitiké on the bench and to bring the recently injured record purchase Alexander Isak into the starting line-up. The Swede, who cost 145 million of the 483 million euros spent on transfers in the summer, left the pitch after 68 minutes with – according to the “Kicker” – seven duels, all of which he lost. “Alex, it will take some time, but when we get him fit he will be back to the player he was at Newcastle, or like he was at Sociedad or all the other clubs he played for,” said Slot.