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As Liverpool exited the field after another hefty home defeat, Arne Slot was left with plenty to ponder. He had made five changes to the starting team that lost to Manchester City — albeit some of them were enforced through injury — but it didn’t make a difference.
One saving grace of its recent poor run of form has been that Liverpool has generally been alright at home. It certainly wasn’t here, though, and it is anyone’s guess what comes next.
PSV in Europe should offer the chance to play a game that suits Liverpool, but will that be enough to arrest the slide? The last Champions League game, against Real Madrid, for instance, has since proven to be a false dawn.
Liverpool simply has to find a way of doing more when it comes to defending from set-pieces. Right now, it isn’t giving itself a chance.
Going forward, Alexander Isak didn’t show up against Nottingham Forest — though, in fairness, he wasn’t given much to work with — and Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were unable to do much after the first 10 minutes.
That makes a concoction that simply doesn’t translate to points: conceding far too easily, and not being able to score.
Liverpool has good players, clearly, but that only increases the conundrum regarding how to fix things. Isak shouldn’t be starting while he is playing like this, but he equally won’t get any better by sitting on the bench.
At $169 million (£125 million), that simply isn’t an option. At the same time, Hugo Ekitike should be playing, and given Gakpo’s struggles, perhaps he should get a go down the left.
Florian Wirtz, though, is now injured, and he has arguably looked the best of those trialed in that role. It is all a bit of a mess.
"I think Isak and Ekitike can play together — Ekitike left, Isak down the middle," former Reds winger Jermaine Pennant told Liverpool.com this week.
"There are options and tweaks. I think Slot has just got to find his best team and get them used to playing with each other.
"When you watch Ekitike, he is not a traditional number nine. He likes to dribble and take players on and he is kind of like a winger. He has all the attributes.
"I'm shocked we haven't seen it yet, especially in games where Liverpool are the favorites and they are going to dominate."
It remains to be seen whether shifting Ekitike wide is a way forward or not, but Slot will almost certainly try it at some point. It is one of the few solutions he is yet to throw the dice with.
"We saw the plan," Pennant continued. "Liverpool lost Darwin Nunez and replaced him with Isak. That is a plus. He is a better player.
"They lost Luis Diaz; he was massive to the club, and we now realize how good he was. But they got Ekitike and Wirtz who can play out there. We lost big players, but there are also stars coming in.
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"It's just getting into gear and everything coming together. Once that plan works, they are too good a group of players not to come good."
Slot has seen his team toil for far too many weeks now, though, and it still isn’t clear whether he would be best sticking or twisting. That in itself tells its own story.
With West Ham and Leeds next in the Premier League, the opposition has a template to follow that just keeps on working.
Ultimately, no matter how good the attacking potential might be, failing to do the basics from a defensive point of view means it won't matter even if it is eventually realized. It is at both ends that Slot has to find solutions.
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