Liverpool's Manager Offers No Excuses and Vows to Plot Way Out of Malaise

Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “look at myself” following Liverpool endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches at home to Nottingham Forest and affirmed he would discover a way from the title holders' slump.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the biggest win at Liverpool's stadium in their history as Liverpool slipped to an eighth loss in eleven matches in all competitions. The British record signing, the Swedish striker, was again anonymous and the home side contended Murillo’s first goal ought to have been ruled out for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal against Manchester City before the international break. But the manager conceded the buck stopped with him and made no excuses.

“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 examine my own role initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a match. Earlier I was just hoping for us to score a goal. Later we hardly created anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the talented footballers we have. Regardless if you win or lose when you look back you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, where can we make changes?’ but that is something else from doubting your abilities.

“I want to stress I am accountable for the current defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also responsible when you are losing. I can not come up with enough reasons for us to have the outcomes we have. That is not good enough and I am responsible for that.”

The team's performance fell apart as the coach made several attacking changes when chasing the match. “It was the same away at Forest the previous campaign,” he said. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and put on [Diogo] Jota and he scored immediately to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s likely stupid.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in back-to-back at Anfield league fixtures against Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost back-to-back league matches by a three-goal scoreline was in the mid-60s.

Slot said: “It was very bad. Playing on home soil, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a terrible result. Surprising if you look at the first half-hour of the match. I did not witness us producing so much in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the first time they arrived in our box they scored.

“It did not happen against Manchester City, but in every other fixture we have been the dominant team and were able to generate chances. Lately it is almost constantly that we miss our chances and the ones we concede find the net.”