🔗 Share this article

Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight games at home against Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and Liverpool argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself initially and my team, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a strike. Later we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as Slot made multiple attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

The Anfield side last lost two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening half-hour maybe the entire season, 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 dominant side and were able to generate chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”