I know we did it with the best of intentions. Sometimes they work out sometimes they don’t.
Attitude is important. Have they got that fire in their belly naturally?
For example, if Gakpo had Diaz’s natural drive he would be a fearsome player.
I’m also inclined to think that Isak deal didn’t make sense at all if there was a clearcut plan im developing our gameplay. At that stage where we lost Jota and then sold Diaz, I thought we would target an up and coming striker with tons of energy for pressing, as Ekitike was effectively Nunez’s replacement. The fact that we extended two wingers suggested we wouldn’t suddenly play 442 or with a lurking central forward while we already had Wirtz. I even thought Wirtz would play the Firmino/Merino/whoever false 9 Spain and PSG have’s role eventually.
And so I feel for Salah a bit in this, but not agree with his outburst of course. He’s made to be the sacrificing piece, instead of having the tactics evolved to suit him. All the business jazz of ‘let him be someone’s else problem’ rings hollow when Hughes and Edward brought the problems in first.
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So, you think he’ll be asked about Mo then?
Why should the tactics be evolved to suit a single player - especially a 33 year old with one year left on his deal - instead of them being evolved to suit the entire team, especially the players brought in for the long term?
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Honestly, Isak doesnt need one. Pretty much anything you want to do with your team Isak is going to be a fine choice up top for that team.
I think if you piece together all the reporting you come up with a story where Isak was always our principal target and Hugo was a response to Jota, and bought very much as an alternative, as a number 2 option, rather than a strike partner. Slot has spoken often about this campaign presenting the two of them and Wirtz a lot more minutes than they are used to playing and so we need options to allow them the time out of the side they’ll need this year as they get used to the demands.
If you buy that story the question is then whether we over complicated things and created an tricky man management situation by spending so much money on two players you expected to be playing most of your games with one of them on the bench, or whether Slot handled it correctly in giving Isak too many minutes too soon when Hugo had already hit the ground running.
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yeah what a brilliant pisstake that would be…‘Mos injured and cant play’
‘would you have played him?’
‘didnt need to think about it becuase hes injured’
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You should always do whats right for the team…but Mo has the right to be pissed as he was sold one vision, and that does not align with reality.
Imagine if you where offered a new job elsewhere. You told your boss, and to keep you he gave you a new contract, told you that you are key, the leader, and here are my plans for you.
A couple of months later the organisation undergoes major restructuring, and just 6 months after signing your contract you are then told you are surplus to requirements. Your too expensive and the new people brought in can do the job.
You would feel misled. You would feel that you were sold a lie and that you were never going to fit within the new strucutre. Or even worse the plan from their side was only ever as a short term transition. You forgone your opportunity as the company was not transparent.
At best its poor planning, at worst it is poor treatment of staff.
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That’s an inapt analogy in too many respects to spend time dissecting.
But to play along for a bit - if a few months after I signed my contract, I consistently underperformed expectations to the extent that I was actively undermining my company’s ability to meet its goals, of course I shouldn’t be surprised that the company would pivot to find someone better suited to do so. I’m sure the shareholders would demand as much as they watch their stock price falling in part due to my own deficiencies.
To come back to reality for a bit, what world are you living in that you feel this club should be criticized for paying a club-record wage to a 33 year old winger who’s been underperforming for about a year now? What world are you living when where the club is somehow in the wrong for anticipating the need to replace that 33 year old who is only on a two year deal?
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And nothing to do with Mo’s poor form, they tried with the 4 3 3 with Mo and it didn’t work the same
Also, If I complained to the media and it was all over social media, I think my job would be gone.
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Sure, but if he wasn’t to be the focal, why would he sign that new deal and why did we give him such a big contract? I can’t reconcile the Isak deal is all, not saying Salah is worth it or not. A lot of these ‘why’ questions should have Slot and Hughes to answer.
Sorry didn’t properly read all the replies. My point still stands if we continue to argue whether Salah’s low form is due to the tactics, bad preseason, or low understanding with the new teammates. Whether he can still be dangerous in and around the box without taking 2-3 defenders by himself. If Slot still has credits in the bank, so does Salah with his form. And the best thing to happen right now is everyone hugging and saying sorry.
We will see how much sense Isak makes moving forward. Certainly so far he has been way below expectations, but I do know he is a quality player, having seen lots of him in the Prem. If we can get him fit and firing I’m confident he will be a really good asset for us, but obviously he has to show that.
The Mo Salah discussion seems mostly done.
Everyone agrees - duh - he’s a legend, with an amazing record at Liverpool.
Everyone (I think) agrees he made a mistake recently with his interview.
At this point it feels like we are waiting to see if there will be a reconciliation or a sale. I can’t see things existing for too much longer in limbo, without one or the other.
We may get a couple more clues which way it is going to go at the Brighton game. If there’s no move towards a reconciliation before he leaves for AFCON, I think the die is cast on an exit. We’ll see.
He signed the contract because he wanted to stay in Liverpool with the Premier League champions rather than going to a retirement home in Saudi. He signed the contract because we’re the only club outside of Saudi that were going to pay him 400K+ a week. He signed the contract because his family loved it on Merseyside.
Why did we re-sign him? I think there were a combination of factors, including his electric performance to start last season and the optics associated with letting him leave, the pressure from the supporters, the cost which would come with signing another replacement for the anticipated outgoings, and to preserve his value for a future transfer.
But remember, the reason it took until the spring to get that deal done is because the club knew that it was a risk associated with his age, and because the club knew that they were going to have to plan for his transition irrespective of whether he extended or not. Giving him two years came with the hope that he’d continue to perform at a high level and would give them more time to plan for his replacement.
The problem is that his attacking form has dipped in significant respects, which is a major problem because it was his attacking form that persuaded the manager to let Salah offer little defensive support.
So what do you do? You pivot because you have to. Slot gave Salah months of regular starts to pick up his form. He hasn’t, and teams have exploited it. The dam is broken. Slot is trying to patch it up. So, Mo has to sit.
It’s not misleading or dishonest. It’s reality. There are no guarantees in this game. If Mo can’t see what’s happening - if he feels like he doesn’t have to earn his place - then that’s his problem.
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That’s absurd, he literally won the PL player of the season award. Had more goals and assists than anyone in the league. He had 57 goals in all competitions, many pundits complained that he only ranked 4th in the Ballon d’Or awards. You can’t rewrite history to say he has been underperforming for a year.
We have changed our system, and have gone from a team winning the league, and Salah performing arguably the be at in the world…to a team currently sitting 10th. We are not where we are because Slot has been accommodating Salah, we are sitting here as we ripped up what worked last season and are doing something new this season. All our world class players (not just Salah) looking average. That includes the ones we bought !
That’s the clubs fault.
A fault that started with our transfer policy and change of tactics (that started after the team won the league last year).
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I’m not rewriting history. You’re just not reading what I said. I said the last year, not the last season.
Look at his statistics in the last calendar year. After an extraordinary start to the 2024-25 campaign, his form tailed during the stretch run of 2025. From basically March onward, he had 5 goal involvements, period, two of which were pens against a terrible Southampton side. 2 goals otherwise. 1 assist. That’s includes several important games, including his no show against PSG in both legs and his no show against Newcastle in the Cup final. That’s also while we’re trying to lock down the title.
And you could forgive him for downing tools after we secured the title, but that form has continued through the present season.
That isn’t controversial. It’s simply a fact. Salah just isn’t the same player he was beforehand. His quickness and pace have taken a step back. It’s obvious when you watch him play.
Maybe his effort to secure an extension caused him to push himself to the point that he burned himself out. I don’t know. But I’m not blaming Arne Slot for that.
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Actually the first half of last season he was great but he has been underperforming and increasingly poor throughout 2025.
Edit: hadn’t seen @jibjab’s response: what he said.
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Other managers are openly saying they attack Liverpool down the right because the full back has no help. Slot can’t ignore this.
I’d question whether Salah thinks Slot should be setting up the team to win games or helping Salah nudge his way up the scoring charts.
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That’s assuming the conversation took place in that manner. I genuinely can’t see the planning taking place around continuing to build and revolve everything around an aging player with a relatively short term contract destined to be his last no matter what happens.
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Another weekend, another potential banana skin for the team and Slot.
Slot has to kick on and win every game from now to the new year with Xabi Alonso or Zinedine Zidane being potentially available for free by Jan 2026.
A string of league losses and/or UCL losses can be very damaging to whatever he has left on his deal.
He actually lives in, Wilmslow. Just saying.
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