Mohamed Salah has increased the pressure on Arne Slot after criticising Liverpool’s playing style and questioning the dressing-room’s mentality.
Liverpool’s head coach burned through whatever remaining credit he had with a section of the club’s fans on Friday, when his team were pummelled 4-2 by Aston Villa. The scoreline flattered last year’s champions and they have now lost 20 matches this season.
A major subplot to the disastrous results has been the disintegration of relations between Slot and Salah, who accused the Dutchman last November of throwing him “under the bus” after a 3-3 draw at Leeds, in which the Egyptian had been dropped from the starting line-up.
Many would now feel, however, that Salah has thrown Slot under a bus after he posted a 190-word statement on social media about his views on Liverpool’s plight, what he perceives to be the right way to move forward and pointed references to Jürgen Klopp.
What did Salah say?
“I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that. Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.
Salah and Slot’s relationship has become strained in the last year – Mike Egerton/PA
“That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it. Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on. As I’ve always said, qualifying [for] next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
Salah comments ‘liked’ by team-mate
Salah, who Klopp signed from Roma in July 2017, had been asked by Telegraph Sport at Villa Park whether he wanted to talk but politely declined the invitation. He was one of the last to leave the stadium after going through a lengthy warm-down.
Having had time to think, however, Salah used his own platform to make clear his dissatisfaction about results and how displays have plummeted. He will know the impact his words carry.
Salah will make his last appearance for Liverpool next week – Dave Shopland/AP
Intriguingly, the Instagram post was “liked” by Salah’s Liverpool team-mate Curtis Jones.
The statement is the last thing Slot needs to deal with as he tries to galvanise a performance from Liverpool against Brentford next Sunday, a fixture that will bring Salah’s nine years at the club to an end.
Salah has been vocal in recent weeks, conducting some interviews with Sky Sports and TNT Sports, in which he questioned whether standards will remain as high as they were during the peak seasons of his time on Merseyside, when they won the Champions League and Premier League under Klopp.
When asked about Salah’s comments on May 8, Slot was clearly affronted by the perception that standards are not what they should be. He emphasised that he agreed with the 33-year-old but insisted there is more to creating a sound culture than being first in the gym.
