Forget Alonso: Liverpool could copy Man Utd and Chelsea tactic by appointing title-winner to keep Salah happy
Arne Slot is under increasing pressure at Liverpool after a series of lacklustre performances and results as well as a public feud with star player Mohamed Salah
Liverpool’s dramatic downward spiral plummeted to a new low at the weekend when club legend Mohamed Salah launched a scathing public attack on manager Arne Slot in the wake of his side’s surprise 3-3 draw with Premier League strugglers Leeds United.
Salah, who was an unused substitute during a thrilling spectacle at Elland Road, told reporters in an heated interview: “I can’t believe … I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why.”
The forward’s outburst comes amid a series of underwhelming performances from his team, including a 1-1 draw with other newly-promoted outfit Sunderland as well as a 4-1 humbling against Dutch club PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League at Anfield in front of their own supporters.
The veteran, who hit record-breaking numbers for the Reds last season, before signing a contract extension, has accused Slot of ‘throwing him under the boss’ adding that the pair ‘no longer have a relationship’ while admitting that the Brighton match next weekend, the last game before he plays at AFCON with Egypt, could be his final outing in a Liverpool shirt amid amplified noises of a long-awaited move to Saudi Arabia.
“ I don’t know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me at the club,” added Salah. “I said to my parents: come to the Brighton game. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it. I will be at Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go Africa Cup. I don’t know what is going to happen while I am there.”
Arne Slot scrutiny reaches unprecedented heights
Less than eight months ago, Salah committed his future to Liverpool after what many argued was the best individual campaign any player had had in the Premier League era. Club captain Virgil van Dijk also penned a new deal, and within 17 days of both signing the extension, Liverpool were crowned league champions with a month to spare as Slot went level with Jurgen Klopp for league titles without signing a single first team starter in his maiden campaign.
The Reds were already a well-oiled machine already, but many were beginning to discuss a possible dynasty as the club splashed out an unprecedented £450m on a series of Europe’s most coveted footballers. However, we’re now less than four months into the season and a large portion of the Liverpool fanbase have already turned against Slot.
Many wondered already if the former Feyenoord boss had what it took to turn the team around after a run of nine defeats in 12 matches across all competitions. But now the relationship with Salah is seemingly broken and his challenge has become a lot more difficult.
Salah is still training with the first team, but is not expected to travel to travel to face Inter Milan in Europe, meaning Federico Chiesa, who has scored four goals in total since joining, is the club’s only natural right-winger option the foreseeable, unless somehow the relationship with Salah can be mended.
It’s a similar situation to what other title-winning managers have found themselves in. Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, Claudio Ranieri at Leicester City and Antonio Conte also of Chelsea were all fired in the season after winning their club’s league titles.
As it stands, it appears that one of either Salah or Slot, two protagonists in last year’s title triumph could be gone before the end of this campaign, with their relationship seemingly at breaking point.
Steven Gerrard linked with stunning Anfield return
Recruiting a manager mid-season is a difficult task even for a club of Liverpool’s stature. Many would want Klopp to return due to his incredible popularity, and though he admitted that the Reds would be the only team he’d consider managing in England moving forward, it seems highly unlikely the German would return anytime soon, given the fact that he left because of burnout and told Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO that he wasn’t missing management.
Xabi Alonso, a legendary ex-player, has been linked in recent months, but he’s currently the manager of one of the biggest teams in world football in Real Madrid and will hope to make that journey a success. Other names like Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner could be considered. However, agreeing compensations with football clubs, particularly mid-season is far from straightforward.
Liverpool are typically a club that are patient with managers but there’s only so much more suffering the club will allow before they pull the trigger, leading to suggestions by some outlets including Football Insider claiming that Steven Gerrard could be considered one on an interim basis.
Gerrard is arguably Liverpool’s biggest legend of the Premier League era as a player. He spent almost the entirety of his career with the football club and is synonymous with one of the greatest nights in the club’s history by helping the Reds achieve Champions League glory in Istanbul.
He worked as an academy coach at Liverpool between 2017 and 2018, gaining a brief insight into the early days of the Klopp era. Since then, he’s had a mixed start to management. He conquered Scottish football, leading Rangers to a league title and an unbeaten season in 2020/21 - all while conceding a British record low of just 13 all season while keeping 26 clean sheets.
Many at that point thought he was destined to succeed Klopp, but a difficult 11-month stint at Aston Villa along with an equally challenging spell in Saudi Arabia with Al Ettifaq has seen his stock drop significantly.
Nevertheless, Gerrard is the definition of a Liverpool legend and someone in the interim that could get Salah back on side, steady the ship and perhaps generate a feel-good factor after a challenging few months of poor results. Danny Murphy, a former Liverpool midfielder, believes Gerrard would jump at the opportunity, but adds they may need someone at an elite level to take the job in the long-run.
Ultimately, the likes of Frank Lampard at Chelsea and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have returned to the club where they were legends as players with varying levels of success. While if you go further back, Liverpool in the past have had Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness in the dugout. Could Gerrard follow suit? On an interim basis to provide some feel-good factor might just be what the Reds need.