What Liverpool supporters did before full-time sends clear message as honeymoon period ends

Welcome to Liverpool, Arne Slot. After an impressive start that prompted talk from some of a Premier League challenge, the new Reds head coach saw his honeymoon period come to an abrupt end on a sobering Anfield afternoon.

Long before referee Michael Oliver sounded the final whistle on a dire defeat, subdued home supporters had already started filing out in their thousands.

Many had seen this all before, most recently towards the end of last season when title aspirations were dealt a blow with a similarly avoidable defeat to Crystal Palace.

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For Slot, though, this shock loss to Nottingham Forest was something new. He is continuing to learn what the squad he has inherited from Jurgen Klopp can and cannot do, his assessment period likely to continue long into the current campaign.

And already eyes will have been opened about the impact of the international break, so often the scourge of his predecessor.

While Slot, speaking ahead of the game, had surprisingly embraced the pause in providing welcome minutes for some of his players, it came with the caveat of not knowing whether it had checked the early-season momentum of his team.

The answer came during a fitful opening half-hour in which Liverpool were well beneath the level they had shown in the previous two matches. Save one spurt of pressure before half-time, they never truly recovered.

And after once again sticking to the same starting line-up, Slot discovered that while consistency of selection is important, rotation at this highest level is an imperative. Too many players looked exhausted both physically and mentally, and too many who stepped in from the bench inevitably lacked sharpness.

Forest, for their part, kept things simple, were well organised in defence and reliant on their physical might. And when the chance fell to substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi to net the winner with 18 minutes remaining, there was no small measure of class, too.

Just as there was no overreaction to the impressive win over a poor Manchester United a fortnight ago, there should be no great teeth-gnashing at this loss. If the season remains in its formative stages, so too does Slot’s tenure.

Anfield emptied in hushed silence, save the corner where the jubilant Forest fans were celebrating their club’s first win at the stadium since February 1969.

Having created impressive records in winning his first three games in charge, it is a Liverpool landmark to which Slot would rather have not been associated.