07 Dec 2025 09:21:46
[Chris Williams] Salah’s words are particularly striking, comes after a number of senior players were unhappy when Heitinga left, the relationship between the players and Heitinga is said to have been stronger than that between Slot and the players.
Reddy - "This is such an exceptionally sad, depressing turn in Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool story. Feeling like the club have thrown him under the bus, admitting he no longer has a relationship with Arne Slot, that it “seems like someone does not want me” at Anfield, and is strongly hinting at being forced out in the January window is not the treatment, legacy, nor conclusion his history-making contributions deserve.
It just wasn’t meant to be like this.
His hurt is evident, and he’s clearly succumbed to his emotions by revealing all of this publicly, but Liverpool do not need more harm right now. And this is damaging. It will also understandably impede how many will view him. Crisis feels a soft description.
Salah seems particularly vexed by being framed as Liverpool‘s problem when that is counter to the truth and players in worse form keep their places in a system and approaching that is heavily flawed.
He also seems annoyed that his talks in private with the manager and club haven’t answered why his situation has changed so drastically. “I asked but I didn't see an explanation. I knew I wasn't going to play. ”
Reading between the lines, there‘s a sense he’s being scapegoated and sacrificed to remedy some recruitment errors that have led to an unrecognisable Liverpool on the pitch.
However much Salah is hurting and whatever he is feeling, this doesn’t tally with ‘The Liverpool Way. ’
And goodness, he deserves infinitely more than this mess. "
Hughes trying to save his own bacon now.
07 Dec 2025 09:39:31
Literally no one thought Mo was THE problem until he opened his mouth.
07 Dec 2025 09:55:36
Ah come on. Plenty wanted Salah benched, saying he shouldn’t have been given a new contract etc. He might not have been the only problem but plenty on this forum thought he was definitely part of the problem.
07 Dec 2025 09:56:14
Mo didn’t play last night. He can hardly take the credit for that p. poor performance and result.
07 Dec 2025 10:17:04
Agreed Faith. And where is the players' leadership group in all this? If Slot has "lost the dressing room" - as is being suggested - then this can't happen without factions, which is in itself a failure in leadership.
{Ed001's Note - the players' leadership group spoke to Slot about the tactics, if you remember there was a well reported clear the air meeting? As a result we got a change in tactics for the Villa and Madrid games, then the players were told it was not sustainable and we reverted back to this crap. Klopp used to constantly override the fitness and conditioning coaches, the training was harder despite their concerns and advice and as a result the players were fitter, stronger, faster. Slot listens to them and we are seeing the results of their input.}
07 Dec 2025 10:30:34
Yes I do remember that, Ed01.
Interesting about Slot. still think there's a leadership failure within the player's group, but. very interesting nonetheless, and probably very relevant.
At some point he surely must add one and one together. Right?
{Ed001's Note - he has so far been doing that and coming up with 11.}
07 Dec 2025 10:41:44
Dutch (oven) arithmetic, mate.
{Ed001's Note - good one!}
07 Dec 2025 10:46:50
Ed001
Agreed. 100%
I have made no secret of my long term dislike for Slot. I have now extended it to Hughes and Edwards.
Little men at a big club, especially Slot. I understand he is well liked in the Netherlands.
The next flight leaves in.
{Ed001's Note - I do think Slot is a difficult man to like as a person. I can see why the players struggle to take to him, he doesn't have that charisma, for example Klopp had.}
07 Dec 2025 10:55:44
Jokes aside, I find this line of analysis really troubling. It almost intimates that Slot had little idea why things went so well last year. I would hate to think that that was true. I mean he couldn't have just woken up recently and decided to self-sabotage.
{Ed001's Note - he seems to think he knows better, really. Everyone says to him that the lack of physicality is getting us bullied in midfield, but he won't accept it and continues to go more technical instead wanting a player to open up defences, which was Wirtz. Clearly we miss a destroyer, but he doesn't agree.}
07 Dec 2025 11:24:24
That's strange, ed, he does strike me as a pretty likeable and affable character, or at least he did last year when we were winning.
{Ed001's Note - really? I find him very cold. Maybe just in comparison to Klopp. He just doesn't seem to have any charisma at all, which is fine if his assistant has it, but GvB doesn't have any either.}
07 Dec 2025 11:45:17
Yeah, I agree, Ed01, and I want it put on record that I've hated his fashion sense since day one.
07 Dec 2025 12:26:57
I don't think that it's fair to compare his charisma to Klopp's. Klopp had buckets of the stuff, don't think anyone could really compete on that front.
I definitely agree with the description of Slot as "cold", although again I thought this was useful at points last season (especially during the occasional wobbles) .
For the record, Ed001, apologies if any of my posts have been interpreted as sly digs. Absolutely not the case, I very much enjoy engaging with people who completely disagree with me. I would not suggest that you would be jumping for joy if Slot was sacked, as presumably your main priority is watching Liverpool do well, being in a situation where a manager is sacked is exactly counter to that.
{Ed001's Note - I have not noticed you have any digs mate. But then I might have struggled to decipher it amongst the Ikea references! I certainly won't be jumping for joy when Slot goes, which will obviously happen at some point even if he turns it around. I watch every match hoping that he will turn it around, even Rodgers I wanted to see win every match, though I found him embarrassing. I just find Slot a bit cold, you are right though you can't compare him to Klopp on the charisma fault, it is unfair. I do think the issue is in large part the lack of personality alongside him on the bench. Heitinga had a big personality, none of the others really do.}
07 Dec 2025 15:52:06
Ed01, many thanks for your information here as I did not know that the "clear the air talks" was about tactics.
So as this is true (and as I already said), Slot is trying to force these pathetic tactics on the team who don't want it as it makes them play badly whereas we have seen empirical evidence that the tactics from last season worked on Villa and RM. So essentially, Slot thinks he (and his staff mates) are right and everyone else incl. the players are wrong. Recipe for disaster.
Hence as things aren't working, Salah feels like he is being blamed for Slot's own tactical mistakes led by his ego and his inability to relate to the players. Seems Heitinga was the bridge btw the players and Slot.
Remember Ed, I used to tell you about managers being in a bubble that despite how bad things can be, they keep convincing themselves that things will come good despite evidence of the contrary and the players and many in the fan base screaming bloddy murder about what their eyes are seeing?
Seems like this is what is happening and Salah seems fed up with getting benched and blamed whereas other senior players are stinking up the joint and still get picked. Just my take.
{Ed001's Note - the problem is that they look at the stats that show things are working and it will come good and ignore all context. The only stat that should really matter is the score. The rest all require so much context that you have to be very careful.}