🔗 Share this article

Arne Slot stated he needed to “look at myself” following the Reds endured a 6th defeat in 7 English top-flight matches on their own turf against Forest and affirmed he would discover a way out of the champions’ slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th loss in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort versus Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wishes to hear me now talking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should examine myself initially and my squad, but it demonstrates you how a goal can alter the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we hardly generated anything.

“Naturally 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 considering: ‘Where can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can never come up with sufficient reasons for us to have the results we have. That is far from good enough and I am responsible for that.”

The team's display unravelled as Slot introduced several offensive changes when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and put on the Portuguese forward and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. Then it was courageous, currently it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost two successive at Anfield league fixtures against Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager said: “It was very bad. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which team you face is a terrible result. Unexpected if you consider the first half-hour of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the entire season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant side and were able to generate chances. Recently it is nearly constantly that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”