Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Vows to Find Route From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he had to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth loss in seven Premier League matches at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a way out of the champions’ poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest victory at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an eighth loss in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again anonymous and the home side contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's disallowed effort versus City prior to the international break. But the manager admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to listen to me now speaking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine my own role initially and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the flow of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

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

“I want to stress I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as Slot made several attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league fixtures by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back top-flight matches by a 3-0 margin was in 1965.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Playing at home, losing 3-0 regardless of which opponent you face is a very, very bad outcome. Unexpected if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I did not witness us creating so much in the opening 30 minutes maybe the entire season, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they found the back of the net.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Recently it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow go in.”