🔗 Share this article

Liverpool's head coach stated he had to “examine my own performance” after the Reds suffered a 6th defeat in seven Premier League games at home to Nottingham Forest and insisted he would discover a solution from the champions’ poor run.

Forest, in the relegation zone before kick off, delivered the biggest win at Anfield in their history as the Merseyside club fell to an 8th defeat in 11 fixtures in all competitions. The most expensive domestic acquisition, Alexander Isak, was once more unnoticeable and the home side argued Murillo’s opener ought to have been disallowed for similar reasons to Virgil van Dijk’s chalked-off goal versus City before the international break. But the manager conceded the responsibility rested with him and made no excuses.

“Nobody wants to hear me now speaking about officiating calls if you lose 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I should look at my own role first and my team, but it does show you how a score can alter the flow of a match. Before I was just waiting for us to net a goal. Later we hardly generated anything.

“Of course there is a way out, especially with the quality players we have. Regardless if you triumph or lose when you reflect you are always considering: ‘In which areas can we improve, in what aspects can we adjust?’ but that is something else from doubting yourself.

“I want to stress I am responsible for the present defeats. You are answerable when you are victorious but also liable when you are defeated. I can never provide enough excuses for us to have the results we have. That is not good enough and I am to blame for that.”

Liverpool’s display unravelled as the coach introduced several attacking changes when pursuing the game. “It was the same away at Nottingham Forest last season,” he remarked. “I took Ibou [Ibrahima Konaté] off and brought on the Portuguese forward and he scored immediately to make it 1-1. At that time it was brave, currently it’s probably unwise.”

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

The manager said: “It was extremely poor. Competing at home, losing 3-0 no matter which opponent you encounter is a very, very bad result. Surprising if you look at the opening 30 minutes of the game. I haven’t seen us creating so many chances in the opening half-hour perhaps the whole campaign, and the initial occasion they arrived in our box they scored.

“It wasn’t at City, but in all other fixture we have been the dominant team and were capable to generate opportunities. Recently it is almost constantly that we miss our opportunities and the attempts we concede go in.”