Liverpool star Florian Wirtz has defended Mohamed Salah as friction appears to continue between the Reds forward and manager Arne Slott.
Salah recently attracted headlines after posting on his social media that Liverpool needed to return to the “heavy metal football” reminiscent of former manager Jurgen Klopp.
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Slott won the Premier League title with Liverpool last season, but it can be said that he has fallen out of favor after a difficult second season at Anfield.
Salah has hinted that he is not a fan of how the team is playing under him, which could raise questions about the Dutch tactician’s future.
However, Wirtz defended Salah in an interview with The Athletic.
Florian Wirths sees no problem with Mohamed Salah’s post and supports Arne Slott
Wirtz insists he does not see Salah’s post as an attack on the slot, and the former Bayer Leverkusen manager has backed Salah, although he admits things need to improve next season.
“Mo has known the club for a long time. He’s just an honest guy. He says what he thinks. There should be no problem with this. If he wants to talk, he should be able to talk,” Wirtz said.
“Obviously it was a bit of a difficult season for all of us, including Mo. In my opinion, it became bigger than it really was. I don’t think he attacked anyone.”
“I like Mo’s mindset in general. I like the way he sees things and the way he works. He’s a guy you can listen to because he’s seen a lot.”
“He wasn’t attacking anyone. I think it was overblown because of the likes the players gave him. For me, it was just something he wanted to say because he was leaving. He wanted to warn everyone at the club that we had to work harder and do a better job. I don’t think he was. He was just trying to say that because he’s leaving, he wanted to warn everyone at the club that we have to work harder and do better. He wasn’t attacking anyone.
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“We are not all happy with this season. I think we can still achieve a little bit if we qualify for the Champions League on Sunday. We have to do that and in the summer we have to clear our heads and attack for next season, because we have a very good team and we can do even better.”
What’s next for Liverpool and Arne Slott?
LFC are set to end this season without a trophy and have never really challenged for the title, which raises big questions about what to do next.
Slott probably deserves more time after a strong start to his tenure, but his underperformance this season is worrying, especially after so much money was spent on new players like Alexander Isak, Wirtz, Jeremy Frimpong and Milos Kerkes.
The only real success of last summer’s signings is Hugo Ekitike, who is currently injured, so changing players this summer may not be the answer, it may be the manager who needs to change.
Xabi Alonso looked like a good candidate to take over at Chelsea, so Andoni Iraola could be a good option to consider as he is being linked with Futto Mercato and the Reds, even if our sources cannot yet confirm the strength of the link, while other outlets have also largely suggested that the slot is safe.
