16 May 2026 16:23 BST |
5 min read
Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah has fired what can only be described as a parting shot at Arne Slot ahead of his final game at Anfield.
The Egyptian King will leave the club after nine trophy-laden years this summer. Tension between Salah and Slot has been palpable for months and exploded into open confrontation in December.
Salah, who has been nowhere near his best this season, took exception to being relegated to the role of a substitute and slammed his coach. He even suggested that he could leave Liverpool in January, but this never materialised.
Slot managed to smooth things over, but there is clearly no love lost between the two. The fact that Salah approached the club to have his contract terminated this summer says it all.
Even though Liverpool won the Premier League last season, it has been a dire 12 months of Slotball. Results turned sour at the beginning of 2025, and the Dutchman has been unable to arrest this slump.
Salah takes aim at Slot
In fact, during his first press conference after Salah’s bombshell interview in December, Slot admitted that he had tried various things to stop the rot, but with little success. Six months on, and the situation has not changed.
This lack of any tangible progress has led to huge frustration in the Liverpool fanbase. It is inconceivable to the supporters that the club chiefs continue to back Slot after losing 20 games this season.
It is made even more baffling when you consider that club legend Xabi Alonso, who is desperate for the job, is not being approached or even just considered as a potential replacement for Slot. He is being pushed to Chelsea by Liverpool’s inertia.
Champions League qualification is now going down to the final day of the season after the Reds slumped to a catastrophic 4-2 loss at Aston Villa on Friday. Ahead of his final game at Anfield, Salah has now once again taken aim at Slot.
Posting on his social media channels, the Egyptian bemoaned Liverpool “crumbling” to yet another abject defeat while playing uninspired football. Salah says that he wants the club to go back to Jurgen Klopp’s “heavy metal attacking” style.
He finished his statement with a thinly-veiled warning to Slot: Champions League qualification is the “bare minimum” for a club like Liverpool, and failure to achieve that should entail serious consequences.
“I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that,” Salah wrote.
“Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.
“That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.
“Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on.
“As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
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