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The squad is a mess and we got someone who can't even correctly asses the players at his disposal.

Mohamed Salah says his Liverpool future is in doubt as relations with Arne Slot have broken down https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6868345/2025/12/06/salah-liverpool-interview-news-leaving-slot/ Mohamed Salah says he feels “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and called his future at the club into question as he revealed his relationship with head coach Arne Slot has broken down. The Egypt international was speaking after being left out of the starting line-up for the third successive game in Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United. Salah believes he’s been made a scapegoat for Liverpool’s struggles this season, insisting “someone does not want me in the club”. The forward also left the door open to a possible Anfield exit during the January transfer window. What You Should Read Next Mohamed Salah and Liverpool: What now? If the Egyptian is to be a less regular starter this season, Arne Slot faces a significant test of his man-management skills “The third time on the bench for the first time in my career,” he told reporters post-match at Elland Road. “I’m very, very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. “It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. It is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. I got a lot of promises in the summer, and so far, I am on the bench for three games, so I can’t say they kept their promises. “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club. “This club, I always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much, I will always. I called my mum yesterday — you guys didn’t know if I would start or not, but I knew. Yesterday I said, ‘Come to the Brighton game (on Saturday, December 13)’. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it. “In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen. I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go to the Africa Cup (AFCON).” Mohamed Salah during his last league start, a 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest on November 22Shaun Botterill/Getty Images Salah scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists in all competitions last season as he inspired Slot’s side to Premier League title glory. In doing so, he was rewarded in April with a new two-year contract worth more than £400,000 ($534,000) per week plus bonuses. However, the 33-year-old forward, the third-highest goalscorer in the club’s history, has struggled for form this season, with just five goals in 19 appearances. Last weekend’s win at West Ham United was the first time he had been dropped for a league match since April 2024. “It is not acceptable for me,” Salah added. “I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player. How I see it now is like, ‘Throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now’. “But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club. The respect I want to get. I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone, but I earned my position.” Asked if he had played his last game for Liverpool, Salah responded: “In football, you never know. I don’t accept this situation. I have done so much for this club. “I cannot say it is impossible (to resolve), but from what I feel, I have done so much for the club, I love the fans and the club so much. I don’t know what is going to happen next. “With respect, I love everyone. I love (Erling) Haaland, I will talk about him. I am the current top goalscorer in the Premier League (last season’s Golden Boot winner). He is not yet. He is going to win it, hopefully, and that is fine for him. I love him and he knows that. I am the top goalscorer, best player, winning the league in such a style, but I am the one who has to defend himself in front of the media and fans. “I have been at this club, scoring more than anyone in this generation. Since I came to the Premier League, I don’t think anyone has scored more goals and made more assists than me. If I am somewhere else, everybody would go to the media and defend the players. I am the only one in this situation. “Can I give an example? It’s silly but I am sorry. I remember a while ago, (former Tottenham Hotspur striker) Harry Kane was not scoring for 10 games and everyone in the media was like: ‘Oh, Harry will score for sure’. But when it comes to Mo, everyone is like: ‘He needs to be on the bench’. I am sorry, Harry! “After what I have done for the club, it really hurts. After going from home to the club, you don’t know if you are starting. Tomorrow, (Jamie) Carragher (the former Liverpool defender turned TV pundit) is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine.” What You Should Read Next Mohamed Salah ‘not happy’ at Liverpool omission but reacted professionally – Arne Slot Sunday was the first time the Egyptian attacker had not started a Premier League game since April 2024 and followed a poor run of form. Salah has been the subject of sustained interest from Saudi Pro League clubs in recent years but has always wanted to stay at Anfield. Asked if he had an offer from the Middle East on the table for January, he said: “I don’t want to answer this question because the club is going to take me to a different direction.” Pressed on who inside Liverpool allegedly wants him to leave, Salah replied: “I really don’t know.” Salah revealed that he had a meeting with Slot at Kirkby on Friday when he was informed he would be left out of the team for the third successive Premier League match. He has only played 45 minutes across those three games, with Liverpool collecting five points out of a possible nine. “I knew yesterday that I was not going to play so take it, swallow it and go home,” he added. “He knows my feelings. There’s no relationship between us. It was a very good relationship and now all of a sudden there is no relationship.” Asked if he now regrets signing the new contract in April when he could have left as a free agent in the summer, Salah said: “Imagine how bad that I have to answer it, honestly. That hurts, even the question hurts. This club, signing for this club, I will never regret it. “I thought I was going to renew here and end my career here, but this is not according to the plan. I’m not regretting signing for the club for sure. “Somehow it will end but the thing in my head is, like, ‘Why it should end this way?’. Because I am too fit, just five months ago I was winning every individual award, so why should it go in this direction? I’m sorry that everybody in the team is not in form, yet I’m the one who has to defend himself now.” Salah is set to join up with the Egypt squad in Morocco on December 15 for the Africa Cup of Nations. Liverpool are next in action against Inter at the San Siro on Tuesday before facing Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield, Salah’s final game before he departs for AFCON. Salah’s angry reaction will stun supporters Analysis from Gregg Evans The news will come as a surprise for fans, who will begin to wonder whether they have seen the last of the club legend in a Liverpool shirt. Salah says he doesn’t know what the future holds, and that’s hard to process after so many happy memories. The thought of him leaving as early as next month’s transfer window cannot be ruled out after Salah’s latest comments. To see how quickly this has unravelled is also a huge shock, given the efforts that went into keeping him at the club last season. It was less than eight months ago when Salah was sitting on a throne (literally) as Anfield’s ‘Egyptian King’ after signing a new contract. His form and physical condition convinced executives at Fenway Sports Group, which owns the club, to rip up their usual policy around older players and offer him the two-year deal that he eventually signed. Even more surprising is that only 22 Premier League games have passed since then but Salah’s form has dipped significantly. He has scored just six goals in that time and after starting every game under Slot, he has sat on the bench for the last three outings, sparking such an angry reaction this evening. Salah rarely conducts interviews and thinks carefully every time he discusses his career in public, so coming out with such strong comments is a sign of how badly he feels he has been treated over the past week. Is Salah on the wane? Analysis from Thom Harris Salah’s output has decreased dramatically this season. He is attempting fewer shots, completing a lower proportion of his take-ons, and taking fewer touches in the opposition penalty area than ever in a Premier League season. As we can see from the graphic below, the quality of chances falling Salah’s way has fallen sharply. He has been unable to get into dangerous goalscoring opportunities with the same unerring regularity as previous campaigns. On top of that, Salah’s usually reliable shooting technique has let him down. While he isn’t notably underperforming his expected goals (xG), he has only been able to keep around 29.0 per cent of his shots on target, down from an average of 41.4 per cent in previous seasons. That tallies with the eye test, and though he scored emphatically against Brentford in October, a shanked effort against Manchester United a few weeks earlier felt more indicative of his unusual lack of clinical edge. There have also been concerns surrounding Salah’s impact without the ball. He is being more easily bypassed in the press and is slow to offer defensive support. That can be accounted for when the goals are flying in, but Slot’s preference to play Dominik Szoboszlai can be understood given current form. By James Pearce Liverpool Correspondent

Enzo Maresca regrets not starting Josh Acheampong vs. Leeds, loss ‘not about experience’ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6864936/2025/12/05/josh-acheampong-maresca-Chelsea-leeds/ Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca insists a lack of experience was not to blame for Chelsea’s defeat at Leeds United and admits he regrets not starting teenage defender Josh Acheampong. The club’s chances of challenging for the title suffered a blow with the 3-1 loss at Leeds United on Wednesday night. Chelsea have the youngest squad in the Premier League and with the transfer window opening in Janaury, talk from outside the club has suggested they need to buy some older players. Maresca is adamant it was not a factor in the way they struggled to compete throughout the 90 minutes at Elland Road and highlighted how 28-year-old Tosin Adarabioyo was one of the individuals who struggled. When asked if there should be more focus on buying experienced players, he replied: “We always talk about experience when we drop points. When we beat Barcelona, we drew against Arsenal, no-one was mentioning about experienced players. “I understand that when we don’t win, we are always looking for the reason why, but I think the reason why we didn’t win against Leeds is not because of the experience, it’s because we were not good enough. “We have experienced players. Unfortunately, they were not inside the pitch. One because he was suspended (Moises Caicedo), the other (Reece James, Wesley Fofana) because of (managing) injury. “Who was the oldest one for us on the pitch? Tosin. Did he play good? So, it’s not about experience. It’s about that 11 players, they were not good enough. I know that we are always looking for experience, but it was a bad game for all of us. I love a young squad, I love young players and I’m delighted with the players I have.” Acheampong, 19, has not started a game since scoring at Nottingham Forest in October. With Fofana and James being rested, plus Malo Gusto on the bench, Maresca opted to move Trevoh Chalobah to right back with Benoit Badiashile and Tosin at centre back. Maresca added: “One of the regrets I have after the game is I didn’t play with Josh. The reason why we played with Trev, Tosin and Benoit is because analysing them, we saw that most of the time they were playing long ball for (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin, for (Lukas) Nmecha. And so we prefer physicality to win aerial duels. But even with that, we lost most of them.”

The actual state of our squad. Insane! Lol.

Still yet to be convinced Veiga was a big improvement on what we have already also though. Or am I missing something? I mean our CBs now we don’t need players around the same level. We need top class quality. Same with the GK position. Veiga’s profile maybe would’ve been better for the squad (left foot, cover CB, LB & DM) but one would argue Hato also does the same? Nobody here for sure would’ve been able to say what Veiga’s best position was based on his minutes here because he played all of those roles & was clearly more of a swiss army knife player than someone who specialised as a CB, LB or a 6. I don’t think any of the players Maresca froze out in that January (Felix & Veiga especially), in terms of quality, were vast improvements on what we had/currently have. Felix playing more would’ve perhaps would’ve prevented him from running Cole into the ground but that was about all his worth given how reluctant the manager was to use Nkunku behind the striker. Tosin signing was a bad move though. Always was. Better than what we already had? No. Get the feeling he came into replace Silva in terms of being a more experienced player and it was always going to backfire horrifically because he hasn’t got the same ability or experience. Seen comparisons with him coming in to Cahill signing at the time too. Captaining Fulham and being a non capped England international is not the same.

Everton, Newcastle and Aston Villa coming, we gonna slide down bad.

Salah only speaks when he has an issue, hides when things get tough and when he speaks it's all about him Selfish fucker, get to Saudi you rat

this place nearly exploded when we signed him.

To be fair though, we had like 20 CB's on the books and the club can't find 3 half decent ones? They could have re-integrated Veiga like they did with Chalobah. Instead we have to watch Tosin make mistakes and Josh ride the bench.

WOW Mohammed Salah with bombshell interview.

Defense has improved. Needs to continue with that defense next games. We definitely need a maestro in the mid

Delap takes a massive touch here and slide tackles the fullback

The striker, wingers, all poor. I am sure you were one of the ones who said these attackers would’ve warranted a title challenge earlier in the season too, no? Clearlake/Stewart & Winstanley have no intentions of us competing at the very top it is so clear. Simple as that. You don’t sign Garnacho, Gittens & Delap when your team has been crying out for top GK & CBs for about 5 years. Even when your manager has said about a CB publicly. The recruitment has been wrong for so many seasons now. The manager also has to be reviewed in the summer because his inflexibility against smaller teams is killing us. Like you need to be able to see these teams off to give yourself the best chance of competing for titles, dropping points against the likes of Sunderland, Leeds, Bournemouth just undoes any points gained against the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs & whoever. Tbf his ability was always there but it was the consistency that was a massive concern. Not to mention the fact he was always a luxury player who lacked the bit without the ball. People forget he’s went under a big physical transformation at City, shed a lot of weight & has had to buy into Pep’s approach where everyone has to work without the ball. I am very doubtful Maresca would’ve gotten that out of him, proof is in the pudding, Cole & Enzo still waltz around as if they don’t have to do their bits without the ball. Not to mention none of the defenders or midfielders seem to want to compete in duels. However its worked out for Cherki - him going there to Pep, with top top players, in comparison to him coming here - it would’ve been a wrong move. I was 100% convinced us signing him would’ve been a bad move & still stand by it.

Find that hard to believe , he just started and assisted twice for a much better team than us

we will never fight for a league title with this board They only send to us sand in our eyes to shut up us

He wouldn't make our bench. Basically Buonanotte.

lets post about every player who scored or assisted today

Rabona assist whilst we have spent billions to have big liam barrelling into people. We are so far behind

Those players simply had more footballing IQ. I dont think that sort of stuff can be coached

Liverpool level on points with us during their horror season. Maresca out

That's not good. Even if he can be incompetent at times, we still offers a different type of striking option. Guiu is good in terms of positioning but I wouldn't trust him to hit a barn door with his shooting. Not sure what happened to Joao Pedro. He looks so off it. Hopefully Palmer returning can see him return to some sort of form he showed early season.

Masterclass by Unai Emery and Aston Villa. 7 wins in a row, 3 points from PL table leaders Arsenal.

Harry Kane scored a hat-trick from off the bench as Bayern Munich thrashed 10-man Stuttgart. The England forward was on the pitch for just 27 minutes before he fired in his third hat-trick of the Bundesliga season. It takes the striker's tally to 28 goals in all competitions after just 22 games played.