Slot Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Plot Way From Malaise

Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 Premier League matches at home against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and Liverpool contended Murillo’s opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal against City prior to the national team pause. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Nottingham Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself initially and my squad, but it does show you how a goal can alter the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

“Naturally there is a path forward, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you triumph or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from doubting yourself.

“I wish to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as Slot made multiple offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool previously were defeated in back-to-back home league games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 regardless of which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our penalty area 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 able to create chances. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our chances and the attempts we concede go in.”