Arne Slot has had to utilise all of his coaching powers during the past week or so at Liverpool.
The Dutchman had begun to look a little lost while attempting to lead the Reds, guiding them to their worst run of results since the 1950s.
Just as the knives were sharpening for Slot, though, he was handed a lifeline in the most unexpected of ways.
Gut feeling, has Mohamed Salah played his last game for Liverpool? If yes, how do you feel about it?
We will perhaps never know whether Mohamed Salah intended to make Liverpool choose between him and Slot by going public with his dissatisfaction on December 7th.
If that was his intention, however, he most definitely failed in it. The Liverpool owners have continued to back Slot, and with Salah’s words serving to sharpen the focus of the squad, the Reds now have two wins from two. After receiving so much criticism this season, Slot is finally getting the praise he deserves.
Arne Slot praised for Mohamed Salah handling
Had things landed differently, Salah’s words could have sparked the end of Slot’s tenure at Anfield.
Thankfully for the Dutchman, he is employed by patient owners who are wholly against making any kind of knee-jerk decisions.
READ MORE: When will Mohamed Salah return to Liverpool? All the key dates as Egypt aim for eighth AFCON title
Still, Slot could have forced their hand had he blown up against Salah or decided to handle things in a confrontational way.
Instead, the Liverpool head coach was just as he always is: cool, calm and collected. Slot let Salah know he was in charge while still keeping the door open for his return. Quite rightly, the 47-year-old has received praise from pundits Gary Lineker and Micah Richards for his handling of a difficult situation.
“The whole Salah issue, I think it was really well handled overall,” Lineker said on The Rest Is Football. “Since it’s happened I think Slot’s dealt with it very well, really maturely.”
“I agree with you Gaz,” Richards added. “I think Slot dealt with the whole situation very well. Even when he could have thrown Salah under the bus, he didn’t.”
How many Premier League points will Liverpool collect while Mohamed Salah is at AFCON?
Is Slot still under pressure at Liverpool?
Rewind to the aftermath of Salah’s explosive comments at Elland Road, and it really had felt inevitable that Slot would soon lose his job at Liverpool.
However, fast forward barely one week, and things have turned around almost completely.
Liverpool are still not where they would like to be in the Premier League table, that much is clear. But having gone to Inter Milan and won and then comfortably dispatched Brighton, there is hope that they will soon move back towards the top.
The Reds have some winnable fixtures coming up once again, and although Salah will be missing while at AFCON, the removal of the issue, even for a temporary period, could be exactly what Slot and Liverpool need.
The former Feyenoord manager is still under pressure to deliver, there is no question about that. But if he can lead his team to a few more wins on the spin, the question marks over his job will begin to be erased. Slot deserves praise for how he has dealt with the whole season at Liverpool. It is nice to see that he is finally getting it.
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