Liverpool's Manager Provides Zero Justifications and Pledges to Find Route Out of Malaise

Liverpool's head coach declared he needed to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Forest and affirmed he would discover a solution from the title holders' poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, produced the biggest win at Anfield in their club records as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in eleven matches in all competitions. The British record signing, Alexander Isak, was once more anonymous and the home side argued the defender's opener should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City prior to the international break. But Slot admitted the responsibility stopped with him and offered no alibis.

“No one wants to hear me now speaking about refereeing decisions if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I should look at myself first and my team, but it does show you how a score can change the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just waiting for us to score a goal. Afterwards we barely created any chances.

“Naturally there is a way out, especially with the talented players we have. No matter if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always thinking: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from questioning your abilities.

“I want to emphasise I am responsible for the present losses. You are responsible when you are winning but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with sufficient excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not acceptable and I am to blame for that.”

The team's performance unravelled as Slot made several attacking substitutions when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was courageous, now it’s probably unwise.”

Liverpool last lost back-to-back home league games by Forest in 1963. The most recent occasion they suffered consecutive top-flight games by a 3-0 margin was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you face is a terrible result. Surprising if you consider the first half-hour of the game. I did not witness us producing so much in the initial half-hour perhaps the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other game we have been the controlling team and were capable to generate chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we fail to convert our chances and the ones we allow go in.”