Softfootball understands that Liverpool manager Arne Slot has found himself right in the middle of an unexpected storm after Mohamed Salah’s comments suggested their relationship had taken a real hit.
The tension came right after Liverpool’s chaotic 3-3 draw with Leeds United, a match where Slot chose to bench Salah.
The forward said he felt thrown under the bus, and honestly, the reaction caught a lot of people off guard. Slot admitted he didn’t feel the same way himself and that he only sensed something was off on Saturday evening.
Liverpool are set to go to Italy for their Champions League trip to face Inter Milan. Speaking ahead of the game, in a video posted by Fabrizio Romano via his official X account. When asked if his relationship with Salah is broken, Slot revealed that he still has a good relationship with Salah.
Slot said:
No, that’s not how I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven’t felt that at all, till Saturday evening for sure, because I think when I didn’t play him anymore, usually players don’t like the manager that much, but he was very respectful to my staff members and to his teammates.
And he trained really hard, so to an extent it was a surprise for me that when I heard after the game that he gave the comments he gave.
He stated that he had always seen Salah as respectful around staff and teammates and that he trained really hard too, which made the public criticism feel a bit surprising for him.
Watch the full video below:
He pointed out that players sometimes say things when emotions are high, especially if they are not playing much.
He explained:
it’s not the first and not the last time that when a player doesn’t play he I’m not sure if he was emotional or not but that he says something, and that something similar to what he did.
Slot also made it clear that while players have the right to feel whatever they feel, sharing those thoughts with the media is a different matter completely.
He said:
He has every right to feel what he feels. But he doesn’t have the right to share it with the media. Yes, he has the right, but then it’s up to us to react on it.
According to him, the club had no choice but to respond, and the clearest sign of that was Salah’s absence from the squad travelling to Milan.
Slot insisted that being calm and polite doesn’t make him weak and that the club needed to protect the team environment.
He said:
Usually I’m calm and polite, but that doesn’t mean I’m weak. So if a player says, I have these commands about so many things, then it’s about me, us as a club to react.
Even with everything going on, Slot didn’t shut the door on Salah returning. He said he still wants to understand the full reason behind the comments. Maybe it was about playing time, maybe something else; he admitted he wasn’t sure.
But he believes every situation can be talked through if both sides want it, and for now Liverpool just have to stay focused on their football.
