🔗 Share this article

Liverpool's head coach stated he needed to “examine my own performance” after the Reds endured a sixth defeat in seven English top-flight matches on their own turf against Nottingham Forest and insisted he would find a way out of the title holders' poor run.

Nottingham Forest, in the relegation zone prior to the match, delivered the largest victory at Anfield in their history as Liverpool slipped to an 8th defeat in eleven fixtures in every tournament. The most expensive domestic acquisition, the Swedish striker, was again unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s first goal should have been disallowed for comparable grounds to the captain's chalked-off goal against City before the international break. But the manager admitted the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“No one wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 in your own stadium to Forest,” said the Reds' boss. “I ought to examine myself initially and my team, but it demonstrates you how a score can alter the momentum of a game. Before I was just hoping for us to net a strike. Later we hardly generated anything.

“Naturally there is a way out, particularly with the talented players we have. Regardless if you win or are beaten when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we do better, in what aspects can we make changes?’ but that is something else from questioning yourself.

“I wish to emphasise I am responsible for the current losses. You are answerable when you are winning but also liable when you are losing. I can not provide enough reasons 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 Slot introduced several attacking changes when pursuing the match. “It was the same away at Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took the French defender out and brought on [Diogo] Jota and he scored straight away to equalize at 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

The Anfield side previously were defeated in two successive at Anfield league games by Forest in the sixties. The last time they lost consecutive top-flight games by a three-goal margin was in 1965.

The manager 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 consider the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us producing so much in the initial 30 minutes maybe the entire campaign, and the initial occasion they entered in our penalty area they scored.

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