Mohamed Salah’s Three Key Strikes Led to Arne Slot’s Liverpool Dismissal

Liverpool’s decision to relieve Dutch coach Arne Slot of his duties on Saturday was not only surprising due to its timing but also because the manager had enjoyed clear support within the club until recently, despite a decline in results during the past season. However, as the season drew to a close, several developments emerged that dramatically altered the club’s stance, with Egyptian international Mohamed Salah at the heart of these changes influencing the management’s view of Slot.

The club announced Slot’s immediate departure in an official statement following a disappointing campaign that ended with Liverpool finishing fifth in the English Premier League. This outcome prompted the club’s leadership to seek a new project aimed at restoring the team’s competitiveness for titles.

After expressing multiple praises for the Dutch coach, Liverpool stated, "We all reached the conviction that change is necessary for the club’s continued progress. We reiterate that this decision was not made lightly, quite the opposite."

The Reds endured a frustrating season, concluding in fifth place without securing any trophies. Midway through the season, a severe conflict arose between Mohamed Salah and Slot, with tensions persisting until recently, shortly before Salah’s departure one year prior to the end of his contract.

Salah made sharp remarks that many viewed as the final blow to Slot’s position, criticizing Liverpool’s lack of a clear attacking style in a post that received widespread support from his teammates.

The first significant blow to Slot’s standing was the evident collapse in the team’s performance during periods when Salah was absent due to injury or tactical exclusion. Matches demonstrated that Liverpool lost much of its offensive threat without its Egyptian star, while the coach failed to find alternative solutions or construct a system capable of compensating for the absence of the team’s most influential player.

The string of poor results in the second half of the season caused Liverpool to drop significantly in the league standings, culminating in a fifth-place finish. Many regarded this as clear evidence of the team’s excessive reliance on Salah and Slot’s failure to develop effective alternatives.

The second blow stemmed from Salah’s statements that sparked widespread debate within English football circles, where he expressed concerns about maintaining the standards the club had upheld in previous years. Salah repeatedly emphasized the importance of having players and leaders who could enforce a culture of work ethic and commitment within the dressing room. These comments were widely interpreted as an indirect message highlighting internal issues within the squad.

Slot responded to these remarks by defending the club’s situation, but the controversy persisted for several weeks.

The third and most critical blow came from Salah’s remarks on the club’s identity. In recent interviews, the Egyptian star stressed the necessity of preserving Liverpool’s character and historic values. This came at a time when the team faced increasing criticism for a decline in playing style and the loss of many attributes that had distinguished it during the era of German coach Jürgen Klopp.

These comments coincided with mounting criticism directed at Slot for the absence of a clear tactical identity and the decline in performance of several players, reinforcing the management’s belief that the project was no longer moving in the right direction.

Although the decision to dismiss Slot was primarily due to the deteriorating results, Salah’s statements over recent months helped spotlight deeper problems within the team, including issues related to standards, leadership, and the club’s identity.

With these three factors converging at a sensitive moment, the Dutch coach found himself in an extremely difficult position. The season’s conclusion delivered the final blow that ended his tenure at Anfield, while Liverpool embarks on the search for a new manager to guide the team back onto a successful path.