After Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United, Mohamed Salah made shocking remarks in the mixed zone.Salah was left out of the starting lineup for the third consecutive game and failed to get any playing time. After the match, Salah made explosive remarks in an interview, claiming he was "being used as the team’s scapegoat" and "did not think he was the problem."
For most of the night, Salah sat wearing a down jacket, his face hidden under the hood. However, he did not hide for long.
Soon, he sprinted up and down the Elland Road pitch, performing the post-match warm-down exercises that all unused substitutes do, running faster than he had since last season. He looked like a man possessed by anger and frustration.
Shortly before that, he trudged towards Liverpool’s away fans’ section in the corner of the old stadium, stretched out his arms and waved. Was it a "see you next week"? Or a "goodbye"?
Afterwards, he strode out of the exit towards the waiting team bus, ready to return to Merseyside along the M62 motorway with Slot’s disgruntled squad. It was another disappointing draw, and notably,
Salah had no part in it. He couldn’t be blamed for this week’s result.
As he walked past, he made eye contact with several journalists he had met during his previous shocking interview and promised to come back. Everyone present knew what would happen next.
When Salah speaks, news usually spreads around the world in seconds. "I heard Salah has spoken," a journalist friend who traveled all the way from Cairo, Egypt, texted. The rest, as they say, is history.
Similarly, Salah’s career at Liverpool seems to be on the verge of becoming history. Or, to put it another way, Slot’s control over the dressing room has become history.
Virgil van Dijk has been backing his fellow Dutchman in recent weeks, as has Dominik Szoboszlai. But when you lose Salah, it’s like a prime minister losing his most influential and closest ally in the media.
The team has only won two of their last 10 league games, which is bad enough. But when Salah—Liverpool’s best club jersey ambassador since Steven Gerrard—made those explosive remarks at around 8:10 PM on Saturday, you’re faced with a mountain that’s hard to climb.
Whatever your opinion of Salah, whether he was right or wrong to speak out in this way, this seven-minute interview will send shockwaves through the football world. Now, a full-scale civil war has erupted between Slot and Salah.
Notably, Salah has form for this. Just over a year ago, on that rainy night at St Mary’s Stadium, the Egyptian took the initiative to approach journalists and vented his frustrations, saying he was "in a dilemma" over his then-expiring contract.
So what’s his situation now? Is he in a dilemma again? The whole thing now feels like a farce. Slot must be fuming.
Salah said he would invite his parents to watch next Saturday’s home game against Brighton, because he thinks it might be his last game for the club before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations.
As a result, Slot is now in an extremely awkward position: either let Salah play in this game, fulfilling his wish but undoubtedly undermining his own authority and letting the player win this civil war. Or, risk fan backlash by excluding him from the squad altogether.
How long has this shocking interview been brewing? Last week at the London Stadium, when he was left out of the starting lineup, the Daily Mail asked if he had two minutes to talk. He smiled, looked up, and seemed to think.
In hindsight, we should have known he was ready to speak, but we let him walk away and talked to Van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister instead.
It must be said that Salah is not a talkative person. Last season, he had to do several interviews with Sky Sports because he was often named Man of the Match. But he only stopped to talk to newspaper journalists once—that now-famous five-minute rant about the club at Southampton.
On that occasion, he got what he wanted. He pushed the club to act quickly and offered him a new lucrative contract. A year later, will he get what he wants this time?
And let’s not underestimate what he wants. Although he didn’t say it outright, it’s clear what he’s after: Slot’s dismissal.
Liverpool has gone from Premier League champions to a club torn apart by civil war. A superstar vs. the head coach. Salah, once the "farce villain" who seemed set to leave, now appears to be firmly in the driving seat. Slot, meanwhile, faces the biggest challenge of his career. May the strongest prevail.
