Mohamed Salah used social media on Saturday to criticize Liverpool’s direction under Arne Slot, and the post landed with the club still chasing a place in next season’s Champions League. Liverpool go to Brentford on Sunday needing a win to finish in the top five if Bournemouth beat Manchester City on Tuesday, while a City victory would confirm Liverpool’s place in Europe’s top competition.
Salah’s message was not just another complaint from a frustrated star. He said he was “putting personal grievances aside and Liverpool’s interests first” even as he delivered what he described as “another parting shot at Slot.” The timing mattered because Liverpool beat Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park on Friday, yet the mood around the club remains fragile after a season that has gone off course.
The friction between Salah and Slot has been building for months. In December, Slot left Salah at home for Liverpool’s Champions League trip to Inter after Salah’s interview at Leeds three days earlier, a move that showed how far the relationship had already deteriorated. Saturday’s post made clear that the tension has not gone away, and it also pulled a wider group into the argument.
Curtis Jones, Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson supported Salah’s post, along with several members of last summer’s recruitment drive. That backing matters because it suggests the issue is not limited to one player airing a grievance. It cuts into the wider dressing room discussion over how Liverpool are being managed and where the team is heading at the end of Slot’s first season in charge.
The numbers explain why the pressure feels so heavy. Liverpool have lost 19 matches this season, and all 19 defeats have come in the past 48 matches. They have also conceded 52 goals in a 38-game Premier League season, the most in the competition’s history. At Anfield, supporters turned on Slot’s style of play during the last home game against Chelsea, a warning sign that the manager’s position has been under strain for some time.
Salah’s own record adds another layer to the story. Liverpool have failed to win any of the nine league games he has not started in 2026, a statistic that underlines how central he remains even as the club wrestles with whether his criticism is a sign of loyalty, frustration or both. For Liverpool, Champions League qualification is not just a sporting goal. It shapes the club’s business model, its recruitment plans and, potentially, Slot’s future.
That is why Sunday’s trip to Brentford and Tuesday’s meeting between Bournemouth and Manchester City carry so much weight. Liverpool can still rescue a top-five finish, but the path is narrow and depends on results elsewhere. Salah’s message has made the internal debate public at the worst possible moment, just as the season reaches its last day and the club needs calm more than confrontation.
