Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route From Malaise

Arne Slot declared he had to “look at myself” following Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more anonymous and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to look at myself first and my team, but it does show you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Afterwards we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole season, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate chances. Lately it is almost consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede find the net.”