Mo Salah

[Norbs]

Quite the opposite. Slot was asked about Salah in recent interviews and was quick to praise Salah. Said Salah was a professional in training despite being benched, that like any top player Salah was not happy to be benched but was not letting it impact how he was behind the scenes and so on.

Then a week later Salah goes and gives that interview.


If Salah is that disgruntled then all his talking should have been behind closed doors and if he did not like any answers he got, then put in a formal transfer request.

That way he could leave with his head held high and not be part of causing a petty media storm.


Personally I reckon IrishNev has had something to do with all of this. He has been acting pretty shifty of late.

Our form has improved slightly with him benched, I wonder how difficult it's been for all the off field staff with this dilemma unfolding

[kingfunk]

I get the sense that Salah has been carrying a bit of a chip on his shoulder ever since we brought in two number nines, particularly Isak. He clearly wants to remain the main goalscorer and it feels like Slot has picked up on something in training as well as in his performances to justify dropping him so decisively. Something is not quite right and honestly I am not fully convinced by either side at the moment.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Our form has improved slightly with him benched, I wonder how difficult it's been for all the off field staff with this dilemma unfolding

Bit more than slightly. Not to say that Salah is the only factor but the last three games Salah started saw us lose all three games, score one goal and conceded ten.

The three games he has been benched for has seen us win one, draw two, score six and conceded four. Plus the right flank, whilst not perfect, has looked more solid.


Now if Slot can show the same ability to bench a player with Konate, we might see another improvement in stability. Might happen now Bradley is back to play at RB freeing Gomez up to play at CB.

[danperkins]

Yeah Gakpo is infuriating and predictable and maybe he shouldn't be a starter every week but he has 100% been better than Salah this season, no two ways about it. It's the perfect storm, Jotas passing, former elite players not being able to accept grand father time, a manager making terrible tactical and personnel decisions and us buying players that clearly dont suit our setup. Now, players speaking out publicly, what an absolute **** show.

Happy if both Slot and Mo went at this point. Happy to be proven wrong but it just doesn't look like Slot can turn this around or that the players believe in him. How long do we wait to make a decision before the season is a write off?

[baitman]

So, our next game is sat 13th December.
Release date for afcon players is 15th December.
Afcon runs 21st Dec to 18th Jan.
January transfer window opens 1st jan until 2nd Feb.

Salah turning up at Anfield will be very awkward.
Many fans singing his name will create a further rift and pressure on management and destabilise the rest of the team...
Maybe some fans will turn against him and call him a judas, who knows.
Maybe best for the club to tell him to stay away???
He can go to afcon and sort his move out away from the cameras.
Let's hope he doesn't get an injury that prevents a move as his position at the club has become untenable. He may even blag an injury to further screw the club as a fee.

[kingfunk]

There are a few rumours going around that this whole situation might not have been a direct dig at Slot, but rather at someone else inside the club. If you listen to how Salah worded things, he talks about the relationship with the manager suddenly going from good to non-existent, then immediately mentions that “someone” wants him out. It comes across like he feels he’s being thrown under the bus.

The talk going around is that he might actually be referring to Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes. The suggestion is that they could be preparing to move him on in January because he no longer hits the statistical benchmarks that justify his wages.

Is Salah implying that they have told Slot to bench him and reduce his minutes so they can justify offloading him?

If this was true, although maybe correct, I’m not sure how I’d feel about them interfering in team selections.

[danperkins]

I would imagine wanting an under performing, aging player on 400k pw gone is pretty likely. If they are the same person that gave him that ridiculous contract in the first place, then they probably should leave too.

[vlahka]

He needs to start his next game and play throughout, or be brought on early second half. Keeping him away will be the biggest mistake.

[baitman]

There are a few rumours going around that this whole situation might not have been a direct dig at Slot, but rather at someone else inside the club. If you listen to how Salah worded things, he talks about the relationship with the manager suddenly going from good to non-existent, then immediately mentions that “someone” wants him out. It comes across like he feels he’s being thrown under the bus.

The talk going around is that he might actually be referring to Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes. The suggestion is that they could be preparing to move him on in January because he no longer hits the statistical benchmarks that justify his wages.

Is Salah implying that they have told Slot to bench him and reduce his minutes so they can justify offloading him?

If this was true, although maybe correct, I’m not sure how I’d feel about them interfering in team selections.

That's the way it goes...

Slot is obviously making a decision to drop salah based on his form.
There may also be some interference from above, taking the opportunity to bench salah due to form and then knowing he will chuck the toys out of the pram again.
This then opens the door for us to more easily bring in a replacement.

[fidget]

Agree that he's probably having a dig at Edwards and Hughes.
I've stated repeatedly that the new contract was a no lose for the club. If he goes in the window we'll have paid him less than £10m in wages and will get much more back.
Sad to see it end this way but this season is ****ed for many reasons and we won last year so whatever.
Joe Gomez to score the winner in the CL final!

[Mark79]

I get the sense that Salah has been carrying a bit of a chip on his shoulder ever since we brought in two number nines, particularly Isak. He clearly wants to remain the main goalscorer and it feels like Slot has picked up on something in training as well as in his performances to justify dropping him so decisively. Something is not quite right and honestly I am not fully convinced by either side at the moment.

We brought in a number nine 3 years ago and Salah was probably one of his most vocal supporters. He was also agreeable to adjusting his role to being more of a provider to accommodate him.

It didn’t ultimately work out that way, but that was down to Darwin’s wastefulness in front of goal rather than Salah’s attitude or willingness to work with a nine.

[BG1973]

[QUOTE=Kenneth;3984099]As infuriating as Gakpo is, he runs, does the work for the team. That itself puts him well ahead of Salah /QUOTE]

This. Plus Gakpo is blessed at 6ft 4 which is a defensive asset without moving a muscle.

Salah can't deal with it. Good, we can sell now and get a fee.

[Norbs]

Im quite happy to see him start against Brighton, he's got a point to prove and only one game to do that in. If his little rest has helped him recover then we'll benefit in the short term

[kingfunk]

I hope he plays some part as I’m bringing my lad, it’s his first game and he adores him.

[Kenneth]

He needs to start his next game and play throughout, or be brought on early second half. Keeping him away will be the biggest mistake.

Start him and hook him after half an hour, really make sure he leaves in Jan.