Liverpool manager Arne Slott may freeze Mohamed Salah’s Player of the Year award, but he’s certainly better off sorting things out in his training ground office.
If he wanted to, Mo Salah could sit on his ass, not test his legs in training, not care whether Liverpool win, lose or draw, and earn $4 million a week. He can then decide when to turn that into at least 1 million a week by going to Saudi Arabia. No drama. There are no words.
So while Salah’s interview after the draw at Elland Road was perhaps disrespectful, perhaps self-serving and perhaps damaging to the spirit of any football club, at least he took a big hit by being benched. At least he cares.
Well, that’s what most people might say about himself. And they probably have a point. And Slott will decide that he cannot tolerate Salah’s detailed criticism of the club and its manager and will be well within his rights to make it clear that the current Player of the Year no longer has a future at Liverpool.
read more: Mohamed Salah takes aim at Jamie Carragher as star casts doubt on Liverpool’s futureread more: Former Liverpool star sends Mohamed Salah a brutal reality check: ‘You’re not Messi’
But they are grown men. There’s no reason why this problem can’t be resolved at the slot office on Monday morning. No, that’s not true. In the case of slots, that may mean sacrificing principle for practicality.
The principle states that a manager’s authority should not be disrespected, just as Salah was disrespectful to Slott. The general rule is that no player, no matter what he or she has done for the club, should be exempt from expulsion, no matter how good the player is.
As a practical matter, if Salah leaves the club, Liverpool are unlikely to make any signings this season. Realistically, Salah, who is full of anger and enthusiasm, should be a great weapon for the manager.
There is no doubt that Salah was the most important player in Liverpool’s Premier League winning season. His 29 goals and 18 assists in the Premier League are no lie.
Although their title defense is already hopeless, Liverpool still have a chance to seriously compete in the Champions League. But while his contribution has been unremarkable so far this season, it’s hard not to feel that Liverpool’s chances of progressing in Europe depend on Slott having the in-form Salah at his disposal.
What would need to happen for the unlikely approach to occur? How can we restore some kind of harmony?
It’s not easy, that’s for sure. Things look terrible when your star player says he’s no longer with the manager and the club threw him under the bus.
But star players and coaches don’t have to be celebrities. It’s a business. Even though he made his views clear in that interview, Salah owes Slott an explanation.
In the slot, there is no doubt that he was scheduled to play against Salah in Tuesday’s game against Inter Milan. A classic “prove me wrong” message might work.
If there are any issues between player and manager, time could help and Salah could be away from the club for a month after next weekend. Slot may want to show who is the boss and freeze Salah out.
Or he might tell Salah to stop moaning, grow up and prove the manager wrong, and given all the outrage over Salah’s comments, that would be the best option.
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