Liverpool manager Arne Slot breaks silence on Mohamed Salah’s stunning tirade

Arne Slot has responded to Mohamed Salah ’s extraordinary tirade in which the Egyptian forward accused Liverpool of making him a scapegoat for their troubled season.

Slot admitted he was “surprised” at Salah’s outburst and would not commit when pushed over whether the Reds legend had played his last game for the club.

Salah, who has lost his place in the Liverpool team, said on Saturday that his relationship with the manager has broken down , while he accused the club of breaking their promises to him. He said he would “say goodbye” to Liverpool fans at Anfield after Saturday’s Premier League match with Brighton, before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations with his future unclear .

Salah trained on Monday, but has been left out of Liverpool’s Champions League squad for their visit to the San Siro to face Inter Milan in the Champions on Tuesday night. The Independent understands Liverpool’s hierarchy, in conjunction with Slot, decided to withdraw Salah from the team’s plans for a short period ahead of the winger’s departure for the Africa Cup of Nations next week.

Speaking publicly for the first time about Salah’s comments, Slot addressed the winger’s concerns and whether the player thinks the Dutch coach is the person trying to push him out of the club: “The only one who can answer that is Mo himself, I can guess, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do at this time, it’s hard for me to know who he means.”

Having dropped Salah from the matchday squad for the Inter Milan clash on Tuesday, Slot revealed: “We let him know that he’s not travelling with us, that was the only communication there from us to him.

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“Before Saturday, the two of us have spoken, a lot, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. It’s not the way I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels things, I haven’t felt that for sure on Saturday evening. I didn’t play him anymore.

“Usually, the players don’t like the manager much, but he was very respectful to the coaches and teammates, so it was a surprise to me that he gave the comments that he gave, but it’s not the first or last time that a player doesn’t play.

“I’m not sure if he was emotional or not, but he said something similar to what he did. We are sitting here on an evening before a big game, a big fixture for us, Inter Milan, there is only 36 hours from conceding the 3-3 against Leeds, and you can consider, I’ve tried to prepare my team in the best way possible, I thought about tomorrow, we decided what I said, not to take him to the game, but after tomorrow we’ll look at the situation again.”

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Slot then explained why he dropped Salah initially, explaining a tactical change was needed due to opponents causing problems with the long ball.

“I think as a team we struggled,” Slot added. “More and more with the game plans against us, I’m not speaking only about the long ball, teams do that against us a lot, I’ve tried to find solutions, that’s my job.

“I do many things, we looked vulnerable against Forest and PSV, I tried to play with an extra midfielder, against West Ham, when we won the game, then against Sunderland.

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“At half-time I brought him in, then against Leeds, a 5-3-2, I played a 4-4-2 diamond, Szoboszlai off the right, Gakpo off the left, Wirtz in between, I could have played Mo off the right. I have no clue [if he has played his last game for Liverpool]. I cannot answer that question.”

More to follow...