Mohamed Salah and Arne Slot are engaged in a head-on collision as Liverpool’s season threatens to unravel completely.
The Reds fell to a dramatic last minute equaliser against Leeds United on Saturday, throwing away two points to draw 3-3.
Even more explosive than what happened on the pitch, however, was what went on off it, with Salah taking aim at Slot and Liverpool as a whole for dropping him from the team.
Who do you think should go, Salah or Slot?
The comments from the Egyptian were ill-advised at best, totally selfish and destructive at worst.
However, as poorly-timed as Salah‘s eruption was, there were some aspects of his words which rang true. 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.
Arne Slot made a mistake with Jacob Murphy comment
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.
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That 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.”
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Murphy tends to occupy the same right-sided role in the attack for Newcastle which Salah fills for Liverpool. It is easy to see how the legendary winger could have taken this as a slight. As good as Murphy has been for Newcastle, the two players are nothing like in the same class. 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.
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