LONDON: Mo Salah stepped up the pressure on Liverpool manager Arne Slot with a social media outburst indicated that he believed the club had lost it way under the Dutchman, only a year after they were crowned Premier League champions.
The Egypt veteran, who leaves Anfield at the season’s end, first attacked Slot after a 3-3 draw at Leeds in December, claiming he had been “thrown under the bus” on being dropped after a poor start to the season.
Salah, set to play his final game for Liverpool against Brentford at Anfield on the closing weekend of the season, took to social media after Friday’s 4-2 loss at Aston Villa to launch a thinly-veiled attack on their style under Slot and the failures this season. Slot has been losing credit fast since winning the Premier League in his first season after succeeding Jurgen Klopp.
Salah said: “I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. “It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.
“Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.
“Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on. As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
Salah’s first attack in December was a clear criticism of Liverpool and how his relationship with Slot had broken down, although he only dropped the forward after a run of poor form and a dramatic decline from last season, when he seemed on a personal mission to bring the Premier League title back to Anfield, scoring 34 goals in 50 starts in all competitions.
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