Slot Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Find Route Out of Slump

Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven English top-flight matches at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool argued the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped 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,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should look at my own role initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly generated any chances.

“Naturally 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 improve, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's display unravelled as the coach made multiple attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, now it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing on home soil, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole season, and the first time they entered in our box they scored.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to create opportunities. Lately it is nearly constantly that we miss our opportunities and the ones we concede go in.”