Arne Slot declared he needed to “look at myself” after the Reds endured a 6th loss in 7 Premier League games at home to Forest and insisted he would find a solution from the title holders' slump.
Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, produced the largest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club slipped to an 8th loss in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.
“No one wishes to listen to me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should examine myself first and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a goal. Afterwards we barely generated any chances.
“Of course there is a path forward, especially with the quality players we have. No matter if you win or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, where can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.
“I want to stress I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can not come up with enough reasons for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”
Liverpool’s display unravelled as Slot introduced several attacking changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical on the road at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”
The Anfield side last lost back-to-back at Anfield league games against Nottingham Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they lost back-to-back top-flight games by a 3-0 scoreline was in 1965.
Slot commented: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, conceding 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us producing so many chances in the opening 30 minutes perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were capable to create chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”
