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Arne Slot was challenged by pundit Clarence Seedorf over his treatment of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
Egypt were omitted from the Reds’ traveling squad Inter Milan after claiming him Was thrown under the bus in Anfield And saying that he has no relationship anymore holeKept on the bench for three consecutive games.
Those comments have dominated Liverpool’s preparation for a tough test at San Siro, which was a fourth consecutive game without Salah in the starting eleven. But Slott’s team made its point with a much better performance on the pitch, win 1-0 through penalties scored by Dominic Szoboszlai – Himself deputizing for regular penalty taker Salah.
Slote was able to smile and joke with the Amazon Prime panel, but he was put under immense pressure by fellow Dutchman and former Inter player Seedorf, who repeatedly grilled him on the Salah debacle.
Seedorf commented before kick-off that he felt Salah’s comments revealed a “lack of communication” towards the player from the club and particularly the manager.
“That’s your opinion,” Slott smiled, when Seedorf suggested that the club should make the first offer to the player after the controversy.
“You say, ‘everyone makes mistakes in life’, but does the player know he made a mistake?
“I haven’t said I’m not going to talk to him. But then you have to ask, should the initiative come from me? That’s another question,” Slott said when Seedorf continued to press.
“But the focus tonight should be on Virgil, for example [van Dijk]Ebou Konate, he has had to face some difficult moments recently but he played an excellent game today against two very good strikers.
The Reds moved up to eighth in the league stage table, level on points with Inter, who dropped to fifth after suffering their first European defeat at home since defeat to Bayern Munich in 2022.
Slott continued: “It was really difficult for the players to accept defeat in the last minute against Leeds [in the Premier League last weekend]You agree and then many things are being said, Usually, it affects the players as well because he has been very influential for the club and the players, so it’s never good when something happens to his teammates,
Pressing on the situation, he attempted to steer the conversation back to the result – Inter Milan’s first defeat at home in the Champions League in three years.
Slott said: “I think the focus tonight should be on what we’ve done here in a stadium like this [the players] tonight. If I go to the press conference on Friday I can completely understand that all the questions will be about Mo but I think these players deserve to be talked about now.
He later clarified: “I didn’t say anything about who should make the first move, or whatever [Seedorf’s] Opinion.”
Slot said he had spoken to Salah to explain his decision to leave out the 250-goal scorer, but admitted it was a “short” conversation between them on Monday.
Salah heads to the African Cup of Nations next week and before that he will only be available for Liverpool’s game against Brighton.
Van Dijk also ignored the issue during the post-game interview but suggested the door was open to a reconciliation.
“It’s difficult but it’s a collective difficult situation we’re all in,” he said. “There are things going on between Mo and the club and him not being here today, that’s the reality. I don’t think anything has changed in terms of our focus and determination.”
Asked if Salah should apologise, the Liverpool captain said: “I’m not one to say if anyone has to apologise. It’s him who has been expressing his feelings over the last few days. It’s something the club has to deal with, obviously, me too.
“I have known him for a long time, we are good friends and have gone through ups and downs. We speak and things like this will remain indoors as it should be. We have to handle ourselves and stay against the outside noise.”