Over the course of 3 days, I followed Mohamed Salah's statements and their impact in England and the world, then I followed his coach Arne Slot's response and his teammates' reactions until I formed an opinion that I might consider fair and not influenced by my personal affection for Salah or our shared nationality.
In my headline, I wrote "The Result of the Meeting Between the Opportunist and the Cowardly Manager." Certainly, the opportunist is Mohamed Salah, and in my opinion, Slot is the cowardly manager.
I won't hide it from you, my initial description of Mohamed Salah was "greedy," but I found it a bit exaggerated considering that greed is usually associated with harming others, whereas Mohamed Salah is the closest model to an "opportunist" who has a fierce ambition to achieve more by any means, but without harming others.
Mohamed Salah came out with fiery statements saying: "It seems to me that someone doesn't want me here. It's very clear that someone wants me to take all the blame. I've said repeatedly that my relationship with the coach is good, but suddenly our relationship is no longer good."
"In football, no one knows what will happen, but I don't accept this situation. I feel like all the blame is being placed solely on me. I've done a lot for this club to earn respect. I'm not saying I'm better than anyone, but I've earned respect."
"After everything I've given to the club, it really hurts. You can imagine that. I know the club well, I've been here for many years. Tomorrow, Jamie Carragher will continue to criticize me again, but well, that's okay."
Salah exploded after just three matches on the bench where Liverpool's results did not improve, and he decided once again to throw the ball into the fans' court, betting on his entire history with the club.
A return in time to analyze the two conflicting personalities...
We are now facing two conflicting personalities, Mohamed Salah on one side, and Arne Slot on the other.
Is it the first time Salah has chosen a moment of his opponent's weakness to seize a chance for success? It seems to me not, as Salah, who takes advantage of his opponents' moments of weakness commendably to score goals, is the same one who chose to oppose the Egyptian Football Association in 2018 - at a moment when he was crowned the king of Egyptian football after bringing the Pharaohs back to the World Cup, breaking a 28-year fast - in search of his marketing rights due to the use of his image on the national team's plane traveling to participate in the World Cup.
He is the same person who chose to put Liverpool's management in a "checkmate" position in front of the fans, exploiting his brilliance and seeking what he wanted to renew his contract with the club a few months ago.
In these cases and others, he appeared like a boxer who remains calm, dodging punches, then pounces and delivers his knockout punch, winning the bout in his favor.
But this time, it might be the most dangerous bout for Mohamed Salah, as the timing of his punch is not based on a moment of his strength as usual, but betting on his opponent Slot's weakness, who is suffering from a collapse in results. But beware, O King, for this time your face is exposed, and if Slot dodges the punch, he might deliver the knockout.
And here we must ask: Did Salah and Slot love each other? Or did their personalities meet temporarily, and was the clash between them inevitable even if postponed?
A few months ago, Mohamed Salah praised his coach highly, even preferring him over Jürgen Klopp himself, who made the most significant part of the Egyptian king's history at Liverpool.
In the summer, Salah stated: "The style of play is different between Klopp and Slot, and each has his own style. I talk to Slot more and feel more comfortable with him in terms of communication. With Klopp, there wasn't much talking."
Mohamed Salah seemed happier under Arne Slot's leadership than with Klopp, and this was reflected in his extraordinary performance last season, as Salah simply contributed to 55% of Liverpool's goals in the league last season, more than half of the team's goals, and thus there is no doubt that he was the most important reason for the Reds' 20th league title.
Arne Slot relieved Mohamed Salah of any defensive duties and tasked him only with what he desired in tearing apart opponents' nets, and it's no wonder that a coach would think of that with a star who brought him victory after victory, so it was also natural for Salah to see him as better than Klopp, who always defended Salah himself against everyone, especially since Salah preferred Slot without attacking Klopp or belittling him.
This is Mohamed Salah's personality in my opinion, but on the other side of the bout, there is another person whose personality we need to analyze, and this person is the "cowardly manager" Arne Slot.
If Jürgen Klopp is not very talkative with his players according to Mohamed Salah's description, he is also someone who prefers them even over himself in any conflict, perhaps this was evident when Salah himself had a dispute with Klopp in his last season due to being benched against West Ham.
Klopp did not attack him at the time, but absorbed his anger and did not make it public, whereas Slot is not that person, whether with Salah or others.
Arne Slot is a model of the "cowardly manager" who sacrifices his subordinates and is only concerned with maintaining his position.
The Dutchman who sacrificed his compatriot Gravenberch after the first defeat of the season against Crystal Palace and stated: "One of our players decided to advance in search of a counterattack, even though the time was up and all that was required was defense. Maybe we were too attacking, or rather one player was, and that's what cost us the goal and the match."
He is the same one who quickly sold Hugo Ekitike after the red card against Southampton and said: "Ekitike's behavior was stupid. I told him that when you score a goal in the Champions League final after dribbling three players and placing it in the corner, maybe I'll understand your celebration and taking off your shirt."
😯 Needless? Yes. Stupid? Yes. Arne Slot's accurate assessment of Ekititke's red card. pic.twitter.com/q0i3sX2Cw4
— This Is Anfield (@thisisanfield) September 23, 2025
And who bought Milos Kerkic in the summer, then substituted him in the 59th minute of his first match due to receiving a yellow card, then substituted him again against Burnley after just 38 minutes, and he hadn't completed his fifth match in the club's jersey, resulting in a loss of confidence and a decline in his level, and he was the deal Slot brought in, sacrificing Andy Robertson's position - one of the team leaders - just as was the case with Gravenberch, who was one of the stars of the 20th league title.
And Slot himself who lost Jarell Quansah in his first match as the team's coach last season. Quansah, before Slot, presented himself as a promising defender in English football, but in his first match with Slot, he was substituted after just 45 minutes, and Slot didn't stop there, stating after the match: "I took Quansah out because he lost all the duels." The natural result was the complete loss of confidence for the 21-year-old and Liverpool losing their defender by the end of the season, moving to Bayer Leverkusen.
Slot retracted and tried to beautify his statements later, attributing them to "misunderstanding due to language, and that he only meant that the player lost some duels as part of his assessment of the team as a whole, not just Quansah," but Jarell never regained his confidence.
Do you remember Harvey Elliott? Liverpool's rising talent who often participated as a substitute in previous seasons and left his mark every time? We also haven't forgotten Slot's statements about his player last season when the team was achieving victories, but Slot chose to respond to a question about whether he communicates with Elliott or explains his role in the team by saying briefly: "No."
If those examples aren't enough, there's another one. Federico Chiesa was a star at Juventus before his arrival, but he spent last season isolated on the bench even after securing the league title.
And this season, Chiesa proved himself every time he participated, but he never gained Slot's trust to start as a regular, even the usually quiet Italian stated: "I hope the coach sees what I offer every time I participate."
All the previous examples reflect a different idea from what Salah stated in the summer, as they all say that Slot is not good at talking to his players at all, and not "easier to communicate with than Klopp" as Salah said.
Yes, Slot is a failure in dealing with his players psychologically, he doesn't give importance to talking to a player if he won't benefit from him immediately, and thus it was a problem Salah wouldn't feel in his position last season, but he will suffer greatly from it this season.
Slot is an example of the "cowardly manager." He will pamper you if you are the reason for his success and the praise of those above him - the fans and management - and he will be the first to sacrifice you if your level declines to maintain his position, and he will completely isolate you as he did with Quansah, Elliott, and Darwin Núñez, and now with Salah without daring to confront you.
And after analyzing the two personalities, we must ask the important questions and answer them.
Was Salah's behavior correct in Liverpool's current situation?
Mohamed Salah is the model who presented himself as having a "professional mentality," and there is nothing in the definition of professionalism that indicates "exporting internal problems to the public," but isn't this also Slot's personality, who has always chosen to attack his players publicly rather than contain them behind closed doors?
When can we consider Mohamed Salah victorious in his battle?
Salah renewed his contract with Liverpool until the end of next season a few months ago and on the terms he set, so he won the battle of exporting his renewal crisis with the management to the public, exploiting his brilliance at that time.
But this time, Mohamed Salah's victory will be contingent on his return to participate with Liverpool and his return to brilliance.
And Salah's return to participation seems illogical or achievable, as Salah's bet now is on Slot losing the support of the fans and management with continued defeats, thus leaving his position and a new coach coming in.
Salah will be with the Egyptian national team during this period, defending his country's flag in the Africa Cup of Nations, so if Slot can steer his team back on the right track and bring back victories, the fans will quickly forget Salah's achievements and focus on supporting their team, and Slot will win.
But if the defeats continue as is the case even with Salah's current absence, the ball will be in the club's management's court; either they sacrifice Slot and bring in a new coach to bring Salah back to the Liverpool family, and the Egyptian king's fate will then be in his hands, or they decide to keep Slot.
And with Slot remaining, Salah's fate will be in Slot's hands, whether by agreeing to sell him and getting rid of his large salary without benefiting from him because he will continue his stance of not involving him, or Slot will return to the "cowardly manager" personality and extend a hand of peace to Salah to reconcile, hoping he will save him from his position as he did many times last season.
Certainly, the fact that Mohamed Salah is Egyptian and a symbol of our country's football will not justify his public attack on his coach, a behavior that any analyst would not hesitate to criticize if a player in an Egyptian club did it. But just because it's a wrong action doesn't mean it will necessarily fail to achieve its goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo's statements towards Manchester United were also not correct, and the result was his departure from England to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, but the possibility of changes in Liverpool during Salah's absence in the Africa Cup of Nations also confirms the possibility of Salah succeeding in achieving his goal again even if the means are not ideal, and then Salah will have succeeded again in his own way as an "opportunist."
We just have to wait, and time will reveal the truth of the victor in the bout, but the final result, whatever it may be, will not change the fact of the superiority of the strict manager who protects his employees over the lenient manager who will make you happy with his leniency with you a lot, but you will suffer greatly with the first situation where his personal interest stands against yours.
If Mourinho previously chose the slogan "Us against everyone" to gather his players around him and protect them in exchange for accepting criticism, Slot is the type of manager who chooses the slogan "Me against everyone" to protect himself.
