"The atmosphere has died and fans are leaving in their hordes early."
John Aldridge couldn't hide his disappointment witnessing thousands of Liverpool fans leaving before the final whistle during the Burnley draw. The Kop legend warns that "fear" and emotionless football are killing the fortress that is Anfield. "I've been going to Anfield for 60 years and rarely seen this," Aldridge shared.
 |
| Mohamed Salah with Hugo Ekitiké (right) and Florian Wirtz during training but the Egyptian was left at home for the trip to play Inter. Photograph: Jason Cairnduff/Action Images/Reuters |
Arne Slot has cast further doubt on Mohamed Salah’s future at Liverpool by admitting that he has “no clue” whether the forward has played his last game for the club. The head coach also insisted his politeness should not be mistaken for weakness after leaving Salah out of the Champions League game against Inter on Tuesday.
Slot gave his first public reaction on Monday to Salah’s incendiary interview at Leeds when previewing Liverpool’s match at San Siro. He denied Salah’s claims that their relationship had broken down and said only the Egypt international knows who supposedly threw him under a bus and wants him out of the club.
Salah trained on Monday for the second day in succession before Slot told him directly that he would not be travelling to Italy for the Champions League game. The decision to remove the 33-year-old from selection for a short period was taken by the Liverpool hierarchy in conjunction with Slot, and with the full support of the Dutch coach. Salah could also miss the home game against Brighton on Saturday. He is due to report for Africa Cup of Nations duty with Egypt on Monday and could be away from Liverpool until mid-January, when Saudi Arabian interest in the forward is likely to be rekindled.
Asked whether there is a way back for Salah at Liverpool, who have the player under contract until the summer of 2027, Slot replied: “I am a firm believer that there is always a possibility to return for a player. But that is not … I can leave it with that I think.”
The head coach, however, was pressed again on the possibility that the third highest goalscorer in Liverpool’s history may have played his last game for the club. “I have no clue,” Slot replied. “I cannot answer that question at this point in time.”
Slot said that he was taken aback by Salah’s comment that their once‑healthy relationship has broken down, having been benched for three consecutive games for the first time in his Liverpool career. “That is not the way I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels things,” Slot said.
 |
| Arne Slot said he was baffled by the claim that he had no relationship with Mohamed Salah. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA |
“I haven’t felt that at all until Saturday evening for sure. When I don’t play someone usually players don’t like the manager that much but he was really respectful to the staff and manager, his teammates and he trained very hard so it was a surprise to me when I heard the comments he gave. But it is not the first or last time a player who doesn’t play says something similar to what he did. But my reaction to that is clear and that’s why he is not here tonight.”
Slot said it was difficult to know who Salah was referring to when he claimed someone at Liverpool had thrown him under a bus. But he admitted having only a brief exchange with the player since Saturday – when informing him of the decision to leave him behind on Merseyside – and insisted the club’s reaction demonstrated his authority.
“Usually I’m calm, I’m polite,” Slot said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m weak so if a player has these comments about so many things then it’s up to me and the club to react. We reacted in a way you can see – he’s not here.”
Liverpool would have been low on numbers against Inter even if Salah had been included on the trip. Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Wataru Endo are absent through illness and injury – Chiesa could fly out on the day of the game should he recover from illness, while Gakpo is out for a few weeks having picked up an injury against Leeds – leaving Slot with a squad of 19 players that includes three goalkeepers and three teenagers.
The first-choice keeper Alisson also addressed the media on Monday and said he hoped Salah would play for Liverpool again. “I don’t think anything but I hope he plays again for the club,” he said.
“That’s a personal situation between Mo and the club. We as his teammates and his friends, we hope the best thing happens for him, but as Liverpool players we want the best for the club as well. We want a win-win situation for everyone.”
Alisson also insisted the remainder of the squad were firmly behind Slot following a miserable run of results and performances. The Brazil international said: “Before Arne came in everyone talks about the huge challenge being a substitute for Jürgen Klopp. Now it looks like everyone takes for granted what we achieved last season. It should not be taken for granted. That should be enough but we believe in his knowledge. We believe in his style of play and that he is capable of helping us to turn around this situation. I believe this is not only about ourselves [the players being behind Slot] but that’s the situation with the club as well.”
Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher spoke out strongly against Salah on Monday night on Sky Sports. Among a series of criticisms, the former Liverpool player said: “He’s chosen this weekend to do this, and he’s waited I think to choose a bad result for Liverpool. Supporters, the manager, everyone at the club feels like they’re in the gutter and he’s chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe get him sacked.
“I’d remind Salah and his agent that before he came to Liverpool he was known as the man who failed at Chelsea. He’d never won a major trophy before he came to Liverpool.”
- Andy Hunter in Milan
Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has slammed Mohamed Salah for his Liverpool outburst that left his future at the club up in the air.
The Reds star shocked the football world on Saturday night when he launched a tirade on his club and manager Arne Slot, admitting he may have played his last game for the side and taking aim at the Dutchman for dropping him from the starting XI in recent matches.
Salah said, among other lines: 'I'm very disappointed, I've done so much for this club - everyone can see that - over years, especially last season, sitting on the bench I don't know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That's how I feel it.'
The rant comes at a tough time for Liverpool. The Reds are ninth in the Premier League standings and have won just one of their last five league matches, with uncertainty rife over Slot's future.
Murphy, who played 249 times for the Reds, argued that point, suggesting Salahis causing the team another issue by speaking out for personal gain.
 |
| Salah blasted Liverpool and manager Arne Slot (right) following his side's 3-3 draw with Leeds |
'I think you can be emotional, you can be angry and frustrated. He's done wonderful things for the football club, (but) you have to keep it within the four walls of the football club.
'Knock on the manager's door, go and see the CEO, the owner, do what you've got to do. By doing what he's done he's causing the team a problem, he's causing the manager a problem and he's making it all about him. You just can't do it.
'We know that's an emotional response and doesn't really stack up,' he said on Match of the Day. 'Everyone has to keep fighting for their place and perform at a certain level.
 |
| Former Liverpool midfielder Murphy said Salah has been 'making it all about him' |
'I think you can be emotional, you can be angry and frustrated. He's done wonderful things for the football club, (but) you have to keep it within the four walls of the football club.
'Knock on the manager's door, go and see the CEO, the owner, do what you've got to do. By doing what he's done he's causing the team a problem, he's causing the manager a problem and he's making it all about him. You just can't do it.
Salah has expressed his frustration at being left out for three games in a row under Slot. He has one game left he can play in - away to Brighton next weekend - before he heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
'Whether you agree with him being left out or not, you can't do it like this,' Murphy continued. 'I think he will have time to settle down.
'The reality is everybody would want a legend like Salah to go on good terms with a wonderful send off. I hope it doesn't end badly because of everything he has given, but there's always a chance if he's adamant.
'Liverpool Football Club are in charge of what happens because he's signed the contract but if he's adamant he wants to leave maybe we will see something in January, but I hope not.'
- LEWIS BROWNING
 |
| Phil Thompson led an emotional tribute to Diogo Jota at Anfield(Image: Getty Images) |
Liverpool legend Phil Thompson led an emotional tribute to Diogo Jota as the Reds returned to Anfield for the first time since his death. The Portuguese forward died in a tragic car accident in Spain alongside his brother last month.
Tributes flooded in from across the footballing world, with fans leaving their flowers and memories outside of Anfield. Arne Slot’s side played their first game at Anfield since Jota’s passing on Monday evening.
They took on Spanish side Athletic Bilbao in a double-header - a game that represented Liverpool’s final pre-season game ahead of the Community Shield clash against Crystal Palace at Wembley.
The game also represented an opportunity for Anfield to pay tribute to Jota and his brother Andre Silva. Liverpool icon Thompson took to the pitch alongside Bilbao president Jon Uriarte to lay a wreath.
The pair laid the wreaths in front of the goal at the Kop end of Anfield, with Kenny Dalglish doing similar in Hong Kong, while Ian Rush also did the same in Yokohama. During Thompson’s latest tribute, fans chanted and sang Jota’s song.
The game was also stopped in the 20th minute for a round of applause, while Jota’s song was a regular soundtrack across the stadium. The recent tributes come after Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk had written a touching message to Jota in Liverpool’s programme ahead of taking on Bilbao.
"It has, of course, been a very challenging time," the defender wrote. "First and foremost for Diogo and Andre’s family, for Rute and the kids. They are the people who must always come first in all of this. We must never forget that, and we cannot imagine Comcast business powering the engine of modern business from Al Jazeera at 4:28 a.m. Today their pain in this moment.
"It is still a bit surreal, to be honest, but we are coping in the best way possible as a team, and we are all trying to do the best job we can in order to get through this really difficult time.
 |
| Thompson and Uriarte laid wreaths in front of the Kop end(Image: Getty Images) |
"With everything that happened, it has been strange having to now try to carry on with work, with football. We will never forget Diogo, of course, but we just have to try to honour his memory. That’s what we try to do each and every day.
"I always come back to the fact that we have to look after Diogo’s family, his parents, and that’s the main thing. You think about so many different things, and it’s difficult to process. You can’t imagine the pain, the feeling that they have. That’s why we try to be there as much as we can, and for each other as well.
"That’s also why it is very important that we honour and carry on his legacy, not only for now and the next couple of months, but for as long as we can, because that is what he deserves."
- Daniel Orme
A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked at the Kop one last time. But it wasn’t a tear because of the end — it was a tear of gratitude, a tear of love, a tear from a man who carried Liverpool in every pass, every press, every humble smile after a goal he could have scored himself but chose to pass instead — because that was Bobby.
Selfless. Pure. Authentic.
It wasn’t the stats that made him great. Goals, assists, trophies — yes, all of that was there, but Firmino’s true magic lay in the unseen. In what can’t be measured. In the way he breathed for his teammates, how he danced with the ball, how he found more than a club in Liverpool — he found a home.
The heart of the team, the smile of the dressing room, and the samba-footed knight walked out onto Anfield for the last time on this day two years ago.
You left with tears in your eyes, but you left us with hearts full.
And know this — the doors of Anfield will never be closed to you, because a home never forgets its sons.
Si Senor 🇧🇷
