Arne Slot has admitted feeling guilty about Liverpool’s “ridiculous” slump, a collapse that nobody at the club envisaged, and conceded he must prove himself daily at Anfield. The Dutch manager is enduring the worst run of his career after a 3-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches and eighth in 11 games across all competitions.
Cody Gakpo described the reverse as “a kind of embarrassment”, while Virgil van Dijk said the team were “in a mess” and questioned whether every player was taking responsibility. Slot cancelled an appearance at the Northern Football Writers’ Association awards ceremony on Sunday to focus on finding a solution, having been due to collect the manager of the year award.
“Ridiculous, almost. Something I didn’t expect to be in,” Slot said of the situation. “You would never have expected us to have lost so much. For sure I take the responsibility and I feel guilty for it.” He added: “You cannot say: ‘We won the league’ and now it’s OK. You have to prove yourself every single time.”
Gakpo insisted the squad had spoken honestly since the defeat. “After the game it was a kind of embarrassment. We tried to speak together and be honest with each other about what we have to do to perform better. We know we have to stick together and take responsibility,” the forward said.
