Slot Offers No Excuses and Vows to Find Way Out of Slump

Arne Slot stated he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a 6th defeat in 7 Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in eleven matches in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against City before the national team pause. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we hardly generated anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am responsible for that.”

Liverpool’s performance fell apart as the coach made multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”

Liverpool last lost two successive home Premier League games against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which team you encounter is a terrible outcome. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, 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 every other game we have been the controlling side and were capable to create chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the attempts we allow go in.”