Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Pledges to Plot Route From Slump

Arne Slot stated he needed to “examine my own performance” following the Reds suffered a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games on their own turf against Forest and insisted he would discover a solution out of the title holders' slump.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's first goal should have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City before the international break. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Later we barely created anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.

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

The team's performance fell apart as the coach introduced multiple offensive substitutions when pursuing the match. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, now it’s probably stupid.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in 1965.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the opening 30 minutes of the match. I did not witness us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in every other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our chances and the attempts we allow find the net.”