Egyptian left on bench in win at West Ham
‘Mo will have a very good future at club’
Arne Slot played down the significance of his decision to leave Mohamed Salah out of Sunday’s Liverpool’s 2-0 victory at West Ham. Salah had been selected for every league game for which was available since a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium in April 2024, when Jürgen Klopp was still manager, but Slot was keen to stress that this does not mean that the Egyptian’s time at the club is coming to an end.
“I get this question a lot,” Slot said, referring to occasions when he’s omitted Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak – who scored his first Premier League goal for Liverpool on Sunday – or Hugo Ekitiké and suggesting that one of his vaunted forwards is always going to be left out.
“Mo has had an unbelievable career and will have a very good future at this club because he’s such a special player. But when you have four games in 10 days then you have to decide once in a while on a certain lineup.” However, Slot, honest to a fault and having already offered the schedule as an explanation, could not help himself from providing tactical insights as well. “The way they set up with a full-back that’s constantly high and a winger who’s inside, I thought this would help the team,” he said, the implication being that he doubted Salah’s capacity to perform the necessary defensive work.
