Liverpool's Manager Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Way Out of Slump

Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their club records as Liverpool fell to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool argued the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

The team's display fell apart as the coach introduced several offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to create chances. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”