Mohamed Salah & Arne Slot: Liverpool unrest continues as Xabi Alonso chooses Chelsea
Mohamed Salah’s latest unexpected public outburst will increase pressure on the struggle Liverpool head coach Arne Slot by a few notches.
Salah first revealed his disappointment with Slot and Liverpool following the 3-3 draw with Leeds United in December, claiming he was “thrown under the bus” after being demoted following the Premier League champions’ poor start to the season.
The Egyptian, who will play his last game for Liverpool this time against Brentford at Anfield on the closing weekend of the season, took to social media after Friday’s 4-2 defeat against Aston Villa to launch a veiled attack on Slot’s management style and their failures this season.
Slot has been losing credit rapidly since winning the Premier League in his first season under Jurgen Klopp.
The contrast between Unai Emery’s lively Aston Villa, who confirmed their Champions League football next season with victory at Villa Park and a place in the Europa League Final, and porous, weak Liverpool was stark.
And then came the final twist in this troubled, turbulent Liverpool season.
Such a statement could rightly be seen as Salah repaying his head coach by throwing Slot under the bus; The breakdown in their relationship provides a tense backdrop to a season in which Liverpool’s title defense has crumbled.
If Salah’s strike clearly doesn’t help Slot, who has lost the faith of many Liverpool fans as the Anfield atmosphere becomes increasingly toxic, then his “we’re in for another defeat this season” analysis doesn’t reflect well on his own team-mates either.
The subplot of Salah’s post is that a large portion of those same Liverpool fans see Xabi Alonso as Slot’s natural successor.
However, the former Real Madrid manager’s fate now looks set to fall to Chelsea, who hope to announce the Spaniard as their new permanent head coach in the coming days.
Alonso, who won the Champions League as a player and then made a huge impact during his time as Bayer Leverkusen boss, has long been considered the Liverpool manager of the future.
Some hoped he would replace Klopp two years ago, but he opted to stay at Leverkusen and was replaced by Slot.
It looks like the timing won’t work out for those dreaming of a fairy-tale return to Anfield.
