Mo Salah loses sh*t. Here's what Anrne Slot must do
The Liverpool talisman has torched the dressing room mood. His coach cannot pretend this is fine
Arne Slot has a crisis. Not a dip in form. Not a tactical misfire. A full scale rupture with the most influential player of the club’s modern era. Mohamed Salah’s extraordinary interview was not frustration. It was a declaration that trust has gone, communication has broken down and respect has vanished. Slot cannot brush this away with calm lines about squad rotation. He now has to confront the situation head on.
Salah said he felt “thrown under the bus”. He said someone inside the club wanted him “to get all of the blame”. He said there was now “no relationship” with the head coach. He revealed he expects to “say goodbye to the fans” before leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations. This was not coded messaging. This was a player who has scored 250 goals for Liverpool saying publicly that he no longer feels valued or protected.
Slot’s first job is immediate damage control. That conversation must be private, direct and brutally honest. Not with the aim of appeasing Salah. Not with the aim of forcing an apology. Slot needs clarity. Either Salah believes he has a future at Liverpool or he does not. There is no workable middle ground after comments of this magnitude.
The key point is tone. Slot cannot approach the meeting defensively. He cannot talk around tactical choices or fitness data. Salah made it clear that the real issue is respect, communication and the sense that promises were broken. Slot has to tell him plainly what the plan was, why he was benched and what the expectations are going forward. If trust is to be rebuilt, it starts with information delivered with absolute candour.
Longer term, Slot must take control of the narrative around responsibility. Experts have pointed out that Liverpool’s problems this season lie far deeper than Salah’s form. Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate have been criticised for lapses that have cost Liverpool control of games. Salah referenced “silly goals” being conceded. He was not wrong.
Slot has to address this balance publicly. Not by calling out players individually. By stating, clearly and without hesitation, that the issues facing Liverpool are collective. That message protects the squad from turning inward and prevents Salah becoming the lightning rod for a wobbling defence.
From the club’s perspective, the bigger question is whether they should actively plan for life after Salah. His remarks make it clear he is prepared for a departure. Liverpool have been “open minded” about his future and Saudi interest persists. The club now have to choose. Do they fight to keep one of the greatest players in their history for one more cycle, or do they take the opportunity to reshape the squad before he enters the final stretch of his career?
Slot will not welcome the timing. He is attempting to modernise Liverpool’s patterns, change their discipline in possession and settle a team that has been unstable since the first month of the season. Losing Salah mid project would be a major blow. Keeping a version of Salah who feels betrayed may be even more damaging.
The squad will have watched those interviews with shock. They will also have noted that Salah did not criticise them. He was firm in stating they were not part of the rupture. Slot needs to use that. The dressing room can be stabilised if he communicates that the situation is contained, not contagious.
Slot has walked into a defining week. If he handles this with authority, clarity and honesty, he can strengthen the dressing room and even salvage the relationship. If he avoids the difficult conversations or allows silence to fester, he risks losing control of the team’s direction.
Salah has spoken. Slot now has to act.
