Arne Slot breaks Liverpool silence after Mo Salah 'thrown under the bus' interview

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Arne Slot has admitted he was "surprised" to hear Mohamed Salah criticise the Liverpool boss broken his silence in a sensational post-match interview. With the pressure already piling on Slot, Salah threw several verbal hand grenades in the Dutchman's direction.

After the Reds were held to a 3-3 draw by Leeds United during which Salah was an unused substitute, Liverpool's No.11 marched to the mixed zone at Elland Road and told reporters he feels Slot has "thrown me under the bus" before stating "there is no relationship" between him and the manager. The 33-year-old also suggested he may not play again for Liverpool after their home clash against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.

Salah hasn't been included in Liverpool's travelling squad for their Champions League clash against Inter Milan on Tuesday evening. Ahead of their vital match, Slot used his press conference to respond to Salah's fierce remarks.

"We have let him know that he isn't travelling with us," Slot said. "That's the only communication from us to him. Before Saturday the two of us have spoken a lot. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter."

When asked if his relationship with Salah has broken down, Slot added: "That's not the way I feel but he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven't felt that at all until Saturday evening, for sure.

"When I didn't play him anymore, usually players don't like the manager that much, but he was very respectful to the staff members and to his team-mates and he trained really hard so it was a bit of a surprise when I heard he made those comments."

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Explaining why Salah didn't even come on against Leeds, Slot stated: "We have struggled as a team more and more this season with the game plan teams have against us.

"I'm not just talking long ball as teams often play against us. I've tried many solutions which is my job. We looked very vulnerable against Forest and PSV so I decided to play another midfielder against West Ham which we won.

"I brought him in at half-time against Sunderland and then I decided to play a bit of a diamond against Leeds, I could have played Mo off the right instead of Hugo [Ekitike]."

Although Salah won't feature against Inter, Slot hinted that there could be a return for the ex-Chelsea man against Brighton or following the Africa Cup of Nations.

"I'm a firm believer that there is always a return for a player," Slot continued. "His reaction to being told he was not going today? It was a short one."

Salah is set to depart for AFCON after Liverpool's clash with Brighton on Saturday. Egypt's first game at the tournament comes on Zimbabwe on Monday, December 22.

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