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

Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool fell to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City before the national team pause. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to listen to me now talking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine my own role first and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to stress I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never come up with enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot introduced several attacking changes when chasing the match. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, now it’s probably unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive league games by a three-goal margin was in 1965.

The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the initial half-hour maybe the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen at City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”