What can Slot do next to stop Liverpool slide?

When Liverpool fans evoke memories of Bill Shankly, it is usually with the warm glow of glories inspired by the father of Anfield, the legendary Scot who built the club into all it stands for today.

Liverpool's current head coach Arne Slot drew comparisons with Shankly after the home defeat by Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Saturday - but not in a good way.

The 3-0 scoreline was only the second time since April 1965, when Shankly was manager, that Liverpool had lost back-to-back league games by three or more goals, following defeat at Manchester City.

This brutally illustrated the scale of the current decline of last season's Premier League champions. It was also a sixth league defeat in seven games, leaving Liverpool 12th, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal.

Liverpool's embarrassment was witnessed by chairman Tom Werner, who flew in from the United States to be greeted by a gruesome spectacle that leaves Slot, who masterminded a Premier League title win in his first season, under increasing pressure.

So what must issues Slot solve to ease that pressure, and fight off claims that Liverpool spent almost £450m in the summer only to send a successful team into a tailspin?

Werner left Anfield on Saturday after watching a display from Alexander Isak that left many questioning what exactly ownership group FSG had bought for their £125m.

The Swede was Liverpool's marquee summer signing, acquired from Newcastle United after a prolonged, acrimonious pursuit that included the striker downing tools to get his move.

The British record fee came after Liverpool spent £116m on Germany's Florian Wirtz, who is yet to record a goal or assist in the Premier League this season.

Wirtz, who has struggled with the Premier League's physical intensity and is yet to look a neat fit either in a role behind Liverpool's striker or out on the left, was out injured against Forest.

The pair have undoubted quality, but Slot needs to get them delivering very soon. It is the very least £241m should deliver.

It was Isak who brought Liverpool's struggles into sharp relief with an abysmal individual performance against Forest.

Isak arrived at Liverpool under-cooked after his Newcastle exile, while a groin injury also stalled his settling-in period but, even taking these factors into consideration, he was alarmingly poor before Slot called time on him after 68 minutes.

Isak, who proved his brilliance on Tyneside, was non-existent, his body language defeatist. Lightweight, lethargic, lost.

The statistics deliver a damning indictment. Isak had 14 touches, 11 in the first half, only two in the opening 25 minutes.

Isak's lack of impact prompted justifiable claims that even the much-maligned and now departed Darwin Nunez would have at least run around a bit in a bid to make things happen.

Hugo Ekitike has been the success of Liverpool's summer incomings, but Slot's decision to start with Isak meant the Frenchman was reduced to a substitute's role, playing on the left-flank against Forest when he came on after 55 minutes.

Ekitike is Liverpool's top scorer with six this season and has also scored his first goal for France. Selecting Isak ahead of him lacked logic, smacking of a manager groping for answers, almost trying to get an expensive signing to play himself into the team.

There is little evidence, so far, that both can play together. At a cost of almost £200m, it looks like one or other must settle for a place on the bench.

Ekitike has shown quality. Isak, for now, remains a very costly problem.

Former England captain Wayne Rooney said in his latest BBC podcast that Mohamed Salah's place should be in jeopardy.

He said: "If I was Slot, I'd try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team. Salah is not helping them defensively.

"If you're one of the players who they've signed and you're on the bench and you've seen him not running - and again he's a club legend for everything he's done for the club - but if you're on the bench, then what message does that send to you?"

Salah has been criticised for lack of defensive contributions, especially in losses to Chelsea, Brentford and Manchester City.

He was, however, one of the few bright lights for Liverpool against Forest, the only player posing a serious threat, although he faded.

Slot has dropped Salah to the bench this season, against Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, with a loss in Turkey and victory in Germany.

He has been below his world-class best, but remains one of Liverpool's potential match-winners. Slot needs all of those he can muster right now.

The time for Slot and Liverpool to contemplate life without Salah is when the Africa Cup Of Nations starts in December and he is with Egypt. Not now.

In Slot's first title-winning season, he showed the surest of touches.

Tweaks to the system, such as using Ryan Gravenberch in the number six role after a deal for Martin Zubimendi collapsed, and a more rigid structure worked to perfection after succeeding Jurgen Klopp. Changes from the bench were astute and successful.

Slot has not looked the same this term.

Liverpool's best wins of the season, two in succession against Aston Villa and Real Madrid, came with Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister setting the platform in midfield, along with Dominik Szoboszlai.

This surely gives a signpost to the way forward. Back to title-winning basics.

The injection of Wirtz into an advanced role has left Liverpool looking unbalanced and vulnerable, not helped by the German's problems adapting.

It has also left Slot's thinking looking muddled.

In among Liverpool's strife, Szoboszlai has been one of the better performers - but yet again he was pushed into an unaccustomed right-back role against Forest.

Liverpool missed his energy in an insipid midfield as Slot tries to plug a gap at right-back left by Trent Alexander-Arnold's departure and more injuries to Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong.

Slot's £70m re-fit at full-back has not worked. Frimpong, when fit, looks more like a wing-back on the right, while on the left Milos Kerkez has struggled.

Joe Gomez, experienced and who has played at right-back, was surely an option against Forest that would have allowed Szoboszlai to move into a more influential role.

Curtis Jones, who played against Forest, was even used as a right-back by England head coach Thomas Tuchel in the win away to Andorra in June.

Slot's substitutions against Forest felt like desperate rolls of the dice, not the game-changers of last season, throwing on Ekitike for defender Ibrahima Konate early in the second half.

Again it felt like Slot was struggling for solutions.

Liverpool suffered a blow when a £35m deadline-day deal for Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi collapsed.

The 25-year-old England international would have served a duel purpose, adding authority alongside captain Virgil van Dijk while providing competition for Konate, whose contract expires at the end of the season.

Instead, Liverpool decision to move late cost them, their plight made worse by Konate's dreadful form in a defence that has conceded 20 Premier League goals in 12 games, as opposed to eight in the same period last season.

Liverpool have conceded nine league goals from set-pieces - excluding penalties - this season, as many as they did all last season.

So Guehi must be a top priority.

The problem now is other suitors who may emerge and Guehi can also wait until summer to decide his future.

And would Palace sell as they stand ahead of Liverpool in fifth place?