Head coach questions whether the player can accept he has made a mistake
Mohamed Salah may need to step forward and take responsibility to resolve his falling out with Liverpool, according to head coach Arne Slot.
Salah was left out of Liverpool’s squad for Tuesday night’s Champions League win over Inter Milan, after his explosive interview in which he said his relationship with Slot was “broken” and accused the club of “throwing him under the bus”.
While speaking on Prime Sport, Slot was asked whether he was planning to reconcile with the winger, since “everyone makes mistakes”. The Dutchman suggested the next step might not necessarily come from him.
“You say everyone makes mistakes in life, so the first thing should be, does the player think he’s made a mistake as well?” Slot said.
“I haven’t said I’m not going to talk to him. The next question is, should the initiative come from me or from him? Now that’s another question to answer.”
Salah made his remarks following a draining run of fixtures for Liverpool, including dropped points against Sunderland and Leeds. Slot admitted the player’s actions had an emotional effect on his squad.
“It was really hard for the players to concede in the last minute against Leeds when in my opinion we played a very good game,” said Slot. “What happened afterwards was emotional as well, it cost maybe a little bit of energy.
“It’s about the player with the manager or with the club, but that normally affects players a bit as well, especially because he has been so, so, so influential for the club and for the players. It’s never nice to see something like this happen to one of their teammates.”
The decision to drop Salah out of the travelling continent to Italy was made by the club, although they consulted Slot and had his approval. Slot said a day after the player’s comments that he had “no clue” whether Salah might play for Liverpool again.
