Arne Slot declared he needed to “examine my own performance” after Liverpool endured a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight games on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.
Forest, fighting against the drop prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in 11 matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side argued the defender's first goal ought to have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the national team pause. But Slot admitted the buck rested 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 look at myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to score a strike. Later we hardly created any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you look back you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is different from questioning yourself.
“I wish to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display fell apart as Slot made several offensive changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same on the road at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I substituted the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. Then it was brave, currently it’s probably stupid.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield Premier League games by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they suffered back-to-back top-flight games by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
The manager commented: “It was very bad. Competing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole campaign, and the first time they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.
“It wasn’t against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the controlling side and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede find the net.”
