Slot Offers Zero Justifications and Vows to Plot Way From Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” after Liverpool suffered a sixth loss in 7 Premier League games on their own turf to Forest and insisted he would discover a way from the champions’ poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the largest victory at Liverpool's stadium in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in every tournament. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool contended the defender's opener should have been ruled out for similar reasons to the captain's chalked-off goal versus City prior to the international break. But the manager conceded the buck rested with him and offered no alibis.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” stated the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to look at myself first and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can change the momentum of a game. Earlier I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Afterwards we barely generated anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you triumph or are beaten when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are responsible when you are victorious but also responsible when you are defeated. I can never provide sufficient excuses for us to have the outcomes we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as Slot made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he found the net straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, currently it’s likely unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back home league fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they suffered back-to-back league games by a three-goal margin was in the mid-60s.

The manager commented: “It was extremely poor. Playing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the match. I haven’t seen us creating so much in the initial half-hour maybe the whole season, and the first time they arrived in our box they found the back of the net.

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