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Salah vs Slot: The rift tearing Liverpool apart

Usually, when journalists wait in mixed zones for players after matches, they do so with little hope of a line to generate a real story. What luck, then, for the reporters gathered at Elland Road after Liverpool had dropped more points against Leeds United on Saturday night when Mohamed Salah stopped to talk.

Salah was an unused substitute in the game having lost his place in recent weeks. Liverpool were in crisis even before kick-off, and the 33-year-old’s form has been poor all season. After spending over £450m in the summer and giving Salah a new contract after his goals propelled them to the Premier League title last season, nobody saw this coming for the Reds – who it must be said are also carrying the grief of Diogo Jota’s tragic loss in July. Long gone is the assumption that it will all just click into place for Arne Slot, who is already feeling the wrath of a growing number of Liverpool supporters after a run of nine defeats in all competitions since the end of September.

In times like this, the mixed zone is even drier than usual. Players are unlikely to say much beyond standard platitudes designed to give the impression of a united front. But Salah is Liverpool’s biggest name and talisman; his lack of form by his lofty standards – four Premier League goals this season – has put him under scrutiny and he has not started the last three games. Leeds was the final straw and Salah had plenty to say, including that he thought Liverpool had “thrown him under a bus” and his relationship with Slot had deteriorated.

“It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.

“This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will.

“It [the situation] is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I don’t get it. It’s like I’m being thrown more under the bus. I don’t think I’m the problem. I have done so much for this club.

“I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone but I earned my position. It’s football. It is what it is.”

Having any player be so brazen with their opinions against their own club and manager is difficult at any time, let alone where Liverpool find themselves. With Slot’s popularity at an all time low, Salah’s words have only widened the chasm between the pair and he is garnering a lot of support as arguably the single most important person at the club over the last decade. But the truth is, he is in no position of strength, either.

Liverpool know it is time to move on from him, regardless of how he plays individually. His lack of impact this season has increased talk that in hindsight, renewing his contract was a bad idea, especially when new signings like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who have a similar level of star power, are struggling to hit their best form. In his pre-match press conference, Slot even commented that Liverpool lacked a player similar to Jacob Murphy, the Newcastle United player who laid on nine assists for Isak last season, prior to his £125m transfer. In the context of what happened after Leeds, that has been viewed as a direct dig at Salah.

Context is key, though; at the time he renewed, he’d scored 30 Premier League goals and helped Liverpool win just their second title in the modern era, let alone all his other achievements. It certainly wouldn’t have gone down well if he’d left for free at the same time Trent Alexander-Arnold was joining Real Madrid.

Salah is a Liverpool legend and an icon with the fanbase, but he wasn’t acting in anyone’s interests but his own here. The club are likely to be as receptive as they ever have been to letting him go, with a move to Saudi Arabia constantly being discussed. It is not the first time a departure has been mooted, but Salah knew what he was doing. This was a grenade launched towards the Liverpool top brass at their most desperate moment, and it feels like there is very little room for manoeuvre if either party wants to reconcile.

It could very easily be a soft, unsatisfactory and jarring end to one of the greatest club-player relationships in Premier League history.