Arne Slot declared he had to “examine my own performance” following Liverpool suffered a 6th loss in seven English top-flight games at home against Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would find a solution from the champions’ poor run.
Nottingham Forest, fighting against the drop before kick off, produced the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool fell to an eighth defeat in eleven fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and Liverpool contended Murillo’s first goal ought to have been ruled out for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed effort against Manchester City before the international break. But Slot admitted the buck rested with him and made no excuses.
“No one wishes to hear me now talking about officiating calls if you are defeated 3-0 at home to Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I ought to examine myself first and my squad, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a game. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we barely created anything.
“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. No matter if you win or are beaten when you look back you are always considering: ‘Where can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.
“I wish to emphasise I am accountable for the current losses. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are losing. I can not come up with enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is far from acceptable and I am to blame for that.”
The team's display unravelled as the coach introduced several offensive changes when chasing the game. “It was the identical away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he said. “I substituted the French defender out and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably stupid.”
Liverpool previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield Premier League fixtures by Nottingham Forest in the sixties. The most recent occasion they lost consecutive top-flight matches by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.
Slot said: “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 first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us creating so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our penalty area they scored.
“It did not happen at City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant side and were capable to generate opportunities. Lately it is nearly consistently that we fail to convert our opportunities and the attempts we allow find the net.”
