Arne Slot may have pushed Mohamed Salah over the edge with brutal comment before facing Leeds - opinion
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Who do you think should go, Salah or Slot? 👇 Join the debate; share your insight. It was easy to see where the veteran’s frustration has stemmed from, with one comment from Slot in the build-up to Saturday’s match likely to have been the tipping point.Although Salah should be taking most of the flak for his outburst, Slot is not blameless at all in this scenario.The Dutchman is a very straight-talking person, but his words on his team’s poor form this season have often felt to be a little too honest.Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty ImagesREAD MORE: Fabrizio Romano rates chances of Mohamed Salah exit as link-up with former Liverpool teammate mootedThat potentially reached a head on Friday, when Slot was asked to comment on Alexander Isak’s struggles.
Bizarrely, the Liverpool head coach pointed to the lack of a player like Isak’s former Newcastle teammate Jacob Murphy as one potential explanation.“I think it is also him adjusting to his teammates and his teammates adjusting to him,” Slot said.“But it is obvious and clear that we have not the profile of Jacob Murphy, for example, available at this moment at this time.” Who is the bigger Liverpool legend, Salah or Gerrard? Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say Murphy tends to occupy the same right-sided role in the attack for Newcastle which Salah fills for Liverpool.
That may have tipped Salah over the edge.Could Slot be looking for a more traditional winger?While likely upsetting Salah, Slot’s somewhat brutal quip about Murphy also gave an interesting insight into what kind of winger he may be looking to replace the Egypt captain with.Salah has never been an orthodox winger. Preferring to cut inside and shoot rather than beat his man and whip in a cross, he and Murphy play very different roles.But it is true that the Newcastle man seemed like the ideal partner for Isak, while he and Salah have not been linking up at all well.Slot has clearly noticed this too, and it may have been part of the reason behind his decision to take Salah out of the team.The end is probably nigh for both of these two men at Liverpool, but if it is Slot and not Salah who survives, it would not be a surprise to see the Reds target a more traditional style of winger to help Isak get his goals.