Liverpool manager Arne Slott has broken his silence on a shocking interview in which club legend Mohamed Salah claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by the Reds. The Egyptian winger also said that his relationship with Slott has completely broken down. Salah trained with his team-mates in the early hours of today (Monday) but was left out of the 19-man traveling squad that will travel to Italy for tomorrow’s (Tuesday) night’s Champions League match against Inter Milan at the San Siro.
Slott then answered questions about Salah at a press conference in Milan. Asked who Salah meant by throwing him under the bus, the manager replied: “Only Mo himself can answer that. I can make a guess, but I don’t think it’s the right thing to do at the moment. To be honest, it’s difficult to judge who he was talking about in that situation. I need to know what he meant. He’s normally calm and polite, but that doesn’t mean he’s weak. When a player says something like that, we as a club have to react. And we know he’s not here.
“He has the right to feel what he feels, but if he has the right to share it with the media, we have to react to it. Yes, we had agreed (terms of discussion), but that doesn’t mean we always agreed on things. I spoke to him twice in the two days before the Leeds game. I’ve already said several times that I didn’t speak to him (at length) after the Leeds game.”
Salah’s comments appeared to question Slott’s personnel management, but the 47-year-old added: “I don’t feel that my authority has been compromised. It’s not about me, it’s about making it more difficult for the team and the club. No one likes to be in a situation like this. It’s difficult to see the staff who work so hard every day being affected primarily by results.”
“Most of my thoughts are on that. When choosing a team, I give importance to his situation, but my focus is on the team, not on myself.
“We told him we wouldn’t be traveling together. That’s our only communication to him. By Saturday we both talked a lot, sometimes long, sometimes short.”
When asked if their relationship was broken, Slott suggested it wasn’t. He added: “I don’t think so, but he has a right to feel how he feels about things. I certainly didn’t feel that way at all until Saturday evening.”
“When I stopped playing with him, normally players don’t like managers that much, but he had a lot of respect for his staff members and his teammates, and he was training really hard, so I was a little surprised when I heard him make that comment.
“My reaction to that is also clear and that’s why he’s not here tonight.” On the possibility of Salah returning to the team against Brighton on Saturday, Salah’s last game, Slott said: “We’re sitting here on the eve of an important game for us.
“From being 3-3 to sitting here now, it’s probably only 48 hours. After tomorrow, we’ll take another look at the situation. I’m a firm believer in players coming back. What was his reaction when he was told he wasn’t going today? It was short.”
But Slott admitted he had “no idea” whether Salah had already played his last game for the Reds, adding: “I can’t answer that question at the moment.”
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Salah’s teammate for eight seasons at Liverpool, also joined Slot at the press conference at San Siro. Although he sympathizes with Salah, he feels it is unfair not to go on the trip.
Alisson said: “It’s not an easy situation. We’ll do the best we can as a group. I have a personal relationship with him and I’ve played with Mo since I came to Europe, one year at Roma and seven years at Liverpool.”
“He’s a great guy, a great personality and a legend at Liverpool FC. We’ve achieved a lot together and of course I’m not happy about it personally, but we in football don’t have much time to bemoan any situation.
“Tomorrow we have a big challenge against a big team. Inter have been very good this season, so my focus and the focus of the team is on the challenge that we will face tomorrow. Again, we are free to speak, but we have to deal with the consequences. I think that is clear.”
“We hope he will play for the club again, but it is a personal situation between Mo and the club. As his team-mates and friends we wish the best for him, but as a Liverpool FC player we want the best for the club. We want a win-win result for him and the club.”
“As a team, it doesn’t matter how you feel, it matters how you react and that reaction is to come together and work hard. It’s not about what’s best for Mo or the team, it’s about what’s best for the club.”
“After the interview, I thought it was really weird, but it wasn’t. We know this is a personal situation and we respect that.”
