Mohamed Salah went ‘straight down the tunnel’ ‘in a strop’ after Liverpool’s 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday and took to social media after the game in a petty indication of his frustration.
Salah was left out of Slot’s starting XI – dropped not “rotated” – as the Reds stopped the rot which had seen them lose four games on the bounce ahead of the clash in Germany.
Hugo Ekitike, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai scored the goals in response to Rasmus Kristensen’s opener.
Questions remain over Slot’s side despite the victory as the Bundesliga side represented incredibly soft opposition, and the Dutch boss may well now have a sulking Salah to deal with.
Daily Mail reporter Lewis Steele said on X, before deleting the post: ‘Mo Salah straight down the tunnel at FT. Loads and loads of positives to take from tonight for Liverpool but he looked in a strop.’
Jamie Carragher hailed Slot’s “great decision” to drop Salah after his dramatic slump this season.
He told CBS Sports: “It remains to be seen on the game, but I just think when Mo Salah isn’t being ‘the legendary Mo Salah’, he gets treated like one of the other players which is right.
“And you don’t forget his age as well. He’s 33 years of age, Liverpool will have three games in six days.
“So at the moment, if he’s not at his absolute best, he shouldn’t play six games in three days because there’s other options there as well. We know Liverpool have spent a lot of money. Liverpool have got a big game as well on Saturday (against Brentford), so great decision, Arne.”
Salah came off the bench late on and had a couple of chances, including one effort in which he opted to shoot from a tight angle rather than squaring the ball to Florian Wirtz for a tap in.
And after the game he hinted at his frustration at being dropped by Slot by changing both his profile picture and cover photo on X.
The Egyptian swapped a picture of him holding the Premier League title aloft for a snap of him and his two kids, while his cover photo changed from a picture of him holding lifting the Champions League trophy alongside his Reds team-mates to a plain grey background.
Carragher said after the United defeat that he doesn’t believe Salah has the same untouchable status as Van Dijk at Liverpool.
“I think we’re at the stage now where Mo Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter every week,” he told The Gary Neville Podcast.
“I think this is a real conundrum for the manager going forward.
“I don’t think Salah should be like Virgil van Dijk where it’s like; ‘first name on the team sheet’.
“He’s not playing well, he’s a legendary figure, and one of the greatest players to ever play in the Premier League. But, I don’t think it should be an absolute guarantee that he starts every game, especially away from home.
“I’m thinking about the next two games, Frankfurt and then Brentford on Saturday. At his age, with the way he’s playing, I don’t think he justifies playing every game.”