🔗 Share this article

Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the champions’ slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side contended Murillo’s opener should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City prior to the national team pause. But the manager admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly created any chances.

“Of course there is a path forward, particularly with the quality footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current 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 good enough and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as the coach made several offensive substitutions when chasing the game. “It was the same on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which team you face is a very, very bad outcome. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us creating so many chances in the opening half-hour maybe the entire season, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”