Slot Provides No Excuses and Pledges to Plot Route From Malaise

Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution out of the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the flow of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Afterwards we hardly created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.

“I want to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable 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.”

The team's display fell apart as Slot made several offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”

The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the whole season, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were able to create chances. Recently it is almost consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the ones we concede find the net.”