Arne Slot’s stance on benching Mohamed Salah again with Liverpool boss ‘uneasy’ | Football | Sport
Arne Slot acknowledges he will find it “uneasy” if he has to drop Mohamed Salah again this season – but would experience the same feelings about omitting any Liverpool player. Salah made his comeback for the Reds this week when completing the full 90 minutes of the Champions League victory at Marseille on Wednesday, having been absent for the previous seven matches whilst on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt.
It marked the 33-year-old’s first Liverpool start since late November, with an initial period on the substitutes’ bench sparking a controversial outburst after remaining unused for the 3-3 stalemate at Leeds United in early December. At the time, the forward claimed he was being made a scapegoat for the Reds’ disappointing autumn form and had no relationship with Slot.
Salah was then omitted from the squad for the Champions League triumph at Inter before featuring for most of the Premier League success against Brighton several days later, having conducted clear-the-air discussions with the Liverpool head coach and apologised to the squad.
And whilst the winger is expected to retain his place for Saturday’s Premier League encounter at Bournemouth, Slot accepts he will not find it straightforward should the moment arrive to again drop the Egyptian.
“I always find it uneasy if I leave a player out and even more a player that has meant a lot for this club,” said the Reds boss.
“You can work with a player for a long time and you have had success with them, but part of my job is making the decision that I think is the best for the team.
“But that is always an uneasy decision. Not only with Mo but every single player I leave out because of the work they put in.
“Their quality is enough to play, so it is always uneasy not to play players.”
Liverpool went undefeated across the 12 matches in which Salah was either rested or unavailable, a sequence that continued with the 3-0 victory in the south of France.
When questioned whether Salah now better understands the circumstances and the likelihood of being rotated from the first XI again, Slot acknowledged he doesn’t anticipate any player being pleased about missing out.
“I think every player knows that a manager needs to make decisions and I think every player 99 out of 100 times is disagreeing with the manager if he doesn’t play,” stated the Dutchman.
“It should be like that because if you don’t have confidence in yourself then it is hard to play in front of 60,000 people.
“These players should have confidence that ‘I am good enough to play and I should play’.
“I am not talking solely about Mo, but everyone now. I think it is always hard for any player who is left out because they want to help and show they are able to help the team.”
“Mo is definitely one of them. He is not a player who says ‘leave me out for five times in a row’, everyone has seen that, but everyone is the same in that regard.”
