Arne Slott was sacked by Liverpool last month after an underwhelming second season in charge.
Arne Slott had a touchy relationship with Liverpool players (Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
Arne Slott’s tenure at Liverpool came to an end just over a week ago. Central to his departure was the club’s disappointing performance throughout his second year in charge, despite winning the Premier League title in his first year.
A further source of friction during Slott’s time at Anfield was his deteriorating relationships with a number of key senior players. Liverpool’s new manager Andoni Iraola will make rebuilding the bond between the team and their supporters a top priority after Anfield became accustomed to booing under his predecessor.
He also takes time off from work to build as strong a relationship as possible with his new dressing room. From Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold to Darwin Nunez, Mirror Football examines the tensions between Slott and three former Liverpool players.
mohamed salah
Perhaps the most high-profile flashpoint of Slott’s reign has been his troubled relationship with Salah. The Egyptian legend caused an uproar in December 2025 when he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” after being left out of the starting lineup for the third time in a row.
Salah, who was left on the bench for the away game against Leeds, claimed he had been made the scapegoat for Liverpool’s disastrous defeat in the Premier League, going so far as to say the player and manager had “nothing to do with it”.
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“I can’t believe I sat on the bench for 90 minutes,” the Egyptian player said after the match. “It’s my third time on the bench and I think it’s the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed. I’ve done a lot for this club so far, especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why it happened.”
“I feel like the club threw me under the bus, that’s how I feel. I think it’s clear that someone was trying to put all the blame on me. I said many times that I had a good relationship with the manager, but suddenly we don’t have anything to do with each other. I don’t know why, but from my perspective it seems like someone doesn’t want me at the club.”
The relationship between Mohamed Salah and Arne Slott made headlines earlier this season (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“This club, I’m always rooting for it. The kids will always be rooting for it. I love this club so much that I always will… I’m really heartbroken after what I’ve done for the club. You can imagine, really. After going from home to the club, you don’t even know if you’re starting or not. I know the club very well and I’ve been here for years.”
Salah’s outspoken mood didn’t stop there, as he publicly criticized the club’s standards on social media after Liverpool’s 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa in May.
“I want to see Liverpool go back to being a heavy-metal attacking team that opponents fear, and a team that wins trophies,” he wrote.
“That’s the football I know how to play and the identity that we have to recover and hold forever. It’s non-negotiable and everyone who joins this club has to adapt to it. Winning a game here and there is not how Liverpool should be. Every team wins a game.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Another player who almost drew Slott’s ire was former fullback Alexander-Arnold. The academy graduate left Anfield last summer to join Real Madrid.
A minor falling-out between the two sides during an early-season encounter with Brentford in 2024 had virtually no impact on Alexander-Arnold’s eventual departure. Still, the Dutch manager proved he was ready to prove his authority soon after taking over.
The full-back looked unhappy after being replaced by Conor Bradley with 18 minutes remaining when Liverpool led 2-0.
It was the second time in the first few weeks of Slott’s reign at Anfield that Alexander-Arnold has contested a sending off, with the defender clearly frustrated after coming on as a substitute in Slott’s first Premier League game with the Reds against Ipswich Town.
Alexander-Arnold was sent off in Arne Slott’s first Premier League match with Liverpool (Image: AP)
Slott said after the Brentford game: “He didn’t look too happy after his sending off? I can understand that.” “Every player wants to play 90 minutes, but I don’t think the players who were on the bench from the beginning were really happy with my choice.
“Trent came back from the national team. He played quite a bit at the beginning of the tournament, but then he didn’t play and then he took a little break. It’s only the third game, but we have to take care of him, because we need him not only for the first two games, but for the whole season.”
“The good thing for me is we have Conor and a very good backup available, which means we’ll take care of Trent. He had a good game, and that’s what I saw as well.”
darwin nunes
The former striker was given a significant dressing down from the slot due to his effort level. Nunez put in a series of lackluster performances as Liverpool pushed towards winning the Premier League last season, most notably against Aston Villa in February 2025.
“I can accept any mistakes, especially those of players who scored two very important goals away against Brentford (January 18) and who scored for us in the home game against Villa (November 2024),” Slott said. “I hope he scores, but the word ‘chance’ says it all. It’s a chance, it’s not 100 per cent decided.
“I can accept mistakes, but what is more difficult to accept is what he did after the chance. He was thinking too much in his head. He wasn’t the usual Darwin, doing his job and making sure he helped the team. He was very disappointed that he missed that chance.”
“I tell him you can miss chances but you can’t miss work rate. That’s the life of a striker. You can miss chances and you can score. That’s part of a number 9’s job. You make mistakes when people are expecting you to score. It’s not part of a number 9’s job to reduce your work rate. That’s something we talk about.”
Darwin Nuñez came under fire from Slott for his work rate (Image: Getty Images)
Shortly after, Nunez posted a message on social media, which was quickly deleted. It read: “A few weeks ago, Darwin was the best. Darwin gave us three points, but yesterday we were unlucky to miss the goal. And I’m the ‘worst’ again and a failure.”
He also sought to clarify his stance, writing: “Three weeks ago I wasn’t the best and I’m not the worst now. When I fall, I get back up. You’ll never see me lower my arms. I’ll give it all up until the last day I have to be here at Liverpool. Resilience!”
Despite his defiant words, it wasn’t enough to redeem his time at Liverpool. The Uruguayan attacker first joined Anfield in June 2022, before moving to Al Hilal in the Saudi Professional League in August 2025 in a deal worth £46 million.
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