Arne Slot breaks silence on Mohamed Salah row after Liverpool star axed | Football | Sport
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has broken his silence on Mohamed Salah‘s explosive interview in which the club legend claimed he has been “thrown under the bus” by the Reds. The Egyptian winger also said his relationship with Slot has completely broken down. Salah trained with his team-mates earlier today (Monday) but was left out of the 19-man travelling squad that flew to Italy for their Champions League match against Inter Milan at the San Siro tomorrow (Tuesday) night.
And Slot fielded questions about Salah at a press conference in Milan. Asked who Salah meant is throwing him under the bus, the manager replied: “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 in this moment in time. It’s hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest. I’d have to know what he meant by that. Usually I am calm and polite but it doesn’t mean I’m weak. When a player says things like that, we have to react as a club. And you can see he is not here.
“He has every right to feel what he feels, but if he has the right to share it with the media then we have to react with it. Yes, we were (on speaking terms). But it doesn’t mean we always agreed on things. I spoke to him twice in the two days before Leeds. I’ve already said a few times I didn’t speak to him (at length) after Leeds.”
Despite Salah’s comments appearing to question Slot’s man-management, the 47-year-old added: “I don’t feel my authority has been undermined. It’s not about me, it’s about it being more difficult for the team and the club. Nobody likes being in this situation. It’s difficult to see staff members who work hard on a daily basis being affected by it, mainly the results.
“Mostly my thoughts go to that. I’m important to his situation as I pick the team but my focus is on the team and not me.
“We have let him know that he isn’t travelling with us. That’s the only communication from us to him. Before Saturday the two of us have spoken a lot. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.”
Asked if the relationship between them is broken, Slot suggested otherwise. He continued: “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 had made those comments.
“My reaction to that is also clear and that’s why he isn’t here tonight.” On the possibility of Salah returning to the squad for Saturday’s match against Brighton, which could prove the winger’s last, Slot added: “We are sitting here on an evening before a big game, a big fixture for us.
“There is only maybe 48 hours between the 3-3 and sitting here now. After tomorrow we will look at the situation again. I’m a firm believer that there is always a return for a player. His reaction to being told he was not going today? It was a short one.”
But Slot admitted he has “no clue” whether or not Salah has played his final match for the Reds already: “I cannot answer this question at this moment in time.”
Salah’s team-mate of eight seasons at Liverpool, goalkeeper Alisson Becker, joined Slot for the press conference at the San Siro. He sympathised with Salah but feels it is fair he hasn’t travelled.
Alisson said: “It’s not an easy situation. As a group we take as best as we can take. We have a personal relationship with him, I’ve been playing with Mo since I came to Europe, one year at Roma and seven years at Liverpool.
“He’s a great guy, great character, he’s a legend for Liverpool FC. We achieved so many things together and of course personally it’s not something that makes me happy. But we have in football not too much time to stay moaning about any situation.
“We have a big schallenge tomorrow a big team to play against. Inter has been doing so well this season, so my focus and the focus of the team is on the challenge we are going to face tomorrow. Again, you have the freedom to talk but you need to deal with the consequences of that. I think that’s clear.
“I hope he plays again for the club but that’s a personal situation between Mo and the club. We as his team-mates and his friends, we hope the best thing happens for him, but as Liverpool FC players we want the best for the club. We want a win-win for him and the club.
“As a team, it’s not important how we feel, it’s important how we react and the reaction is to stay together and working hard. It’s not about what’s best for Mo or the team, it’s about what’s best for the club.
“After the interview I thought it would be really weird but it wasn’t. We know it’s a personal situation and we respect that.”
