Liverpool got a taste of what life will be like without relying on Mohamed Salah during Sunday’s much-needed 2–0 win over West Ham United in the Premier League. But Arne Slot insisted the Anfield icon’s benching was not the beginning of the end.
Slot has been facing calls to drop Salah for weeks, with Liverpool navigating what became a run of nine defeats in 12 games across all competitions prior to facing the Hammers. By the time the Reds had lost 4–1 against PSV Eindhoven, it was the first time since the 1953–54 season that any Liverpool team had lost three consecutive games by three-goal margins.
Salah has been accused of not working hard enough for the team, leaving others exposed, while his goal and assist numbers had also dried up just months after arguably his best-ever season prompted the offer of a lucrative new contract until 2027. It’s at least worth caveating that Salah was hit particularly hard by the sudden passing of teammate and close friend Diogo Jota.
“If you’re one of the players who they’ve signed and you’re on the bench and you’ve seen him not running, then what message does that send to you?” was Wayne Rooney’s take last week.
Even so, fans were still shocked to see Salah’s name among the substitutes when Liverpool’s team to face West Ham was confirmed an hour before kick off—his usual place went to Florian Wirtz instead.
Slot explained before the game
“Mo has had an unbelievable career at this club and will have a very good future at this club because he's such a special player,” Slot said postgame. “You have to decide once in a while to make a certain lineup, and you try to pick the best lineup for every single game.
“With the way [West Ham] set up, with a fullback [Malick Diouf] that’s constantly very high and a winger [Mateus Fernandes] that’s constantly inside, I thought that this could help the team. But like I said, [Salah] has been so important for this club and will be important for this club in the future.”
Alexander Isak scored his first Liverpool goal to set the reigning Premier League champions on their way to a first domestic win in a month, before Cody Gakpo delivered a killer second.
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Slot ‘Relieved’ to End Worst Liverpool Run in 71 Years
After three heavy defeats against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and PSV straddling the November international break, Slot couldn’t have been more happy to claim a victory. Some had said the Dutchman might only have another week to save his job. But while he denied a recent meeting with the owners was anything more than a regular check-in, beating West Ham will have at least pushed any gathering wolves a little bit further away from the door.
“There’s definitely a feeling of relief because if you have lost so many times then winning is important,” he said.
“The good thing was for the first time in many, many, many games, the first chance of the opponent didn’t go in. It’s happened so many times to us that the first chance the opponent has, it goes in. Then you get a completely different game as we saw so many times now.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arne Slot Delivers Firm Declaration on Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool Future.
