A man who was the popular pick to lead the new era not too long ago is now public enemy No 1, with trust in him dwindling by the week.
No, we are not talking about Keir Starmer’s Labour government, but Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
There are plenty of similarities between the two, mind you, as Slot oversees a crumbling red wall – with the Kop becoming increasingly populated by dissenters and traditional, loyal supporters turning their backs. Many have seen enough and want change, with little evidence of an imminent upturn in fortunes.
And though Mohamed Salah isn’t quite after the top job, the Egyptian’s Instagram post over the weekend was effectively a vote of no confidence in his forlorn head coach, and not for the first time.
Whether it was right or wrong, Salah clearly thought the post was needed, and it wasn’t something he uploaded in the heat of the moment.
One month ago, a trusted source in Egypt who was one step ahead of everyone during Salah’s protracted contract saga last year, told Daily Mail Sport: ‘Just wait and see what he has to say at the end of the season.’
There was another twist in Mohamed Salah and Arne Slot’s strained relationship this weekend, as the Egyptian effectively took aim at his boss on social media
Whether it was right or wrong, Salah’s post was clearly calculated, and not something posted in the heat of the moment
The Salah-Slot tension – or ‘civil war’ if you want to call it that – did not start and end on that week in December when the player said the club had thrown him ‘under the bus’ and that he had ‘no relationship’ with the head coach.
As much as many may have tried to brush that row under the carpet, it has been clear that the pair still have a strained relationship. You need not be a secret agent to work that out.
The dressing room was split at the time of Salah’s outburst and remains so: stars are understandably torn between wanting to support the best player in the club’s recent history and also not wanting to disrespect the coaching staff.
How much can you read into senior players liking Salah’s post on Instagram? Well, as someone who, like most of the players, is in their late 20s, this reporter would say ‘liking’ a post – especially one with such a controversial message – is usually an endorsement, though the waters are muddied by the fact many have social media teams.
Curtis Jones posted a social media message of his own shortly after Salah’s, which said this season has been ‘way off the standards expected at this football club’.
Jones might not be as big a name as Salah, but the midfielder has been at the club since the age of nine and, as the only Scouser in the first team, is an important voice.
He too might leave this summer, with Inter Milan keen on his services.
The sense of annoyance spreads across the dressing room. Virgil van Dijk has disliked the criticism Liverpool players have come in for, while others feel the boo boys have been harsh.
Curtis Jones posted a social media message of his own shortly after Salah’s, which said this season has been ‘way off the standards expected at this football club’
Captain Virgil van Dijk has also been frustrated by Liverpool’s disappointing 2025-26, and has disliked the criticism his team-mates have come in for
Regardless of your take on the Salah comments, this was a blow for Slot. It is hard to escape the feeling that he has lost the dressing room.
Slot has repeatedly bit his tongue about certain issues that are bugging him this year. It feels like he wants to have a pop back at Salah, but knows it would not be wise to do so.
The Egyptian knew what he was doing, too. There’s an old adage in the newspaper industry along the lines of: never start a campaign you aren’t going to win.
Salah is a clever and calculated man. He will have known that, in throwing a few indirect jabs at Liverpool’s under-fire boss, he was taking on a fight from which he would emerge victorious.
Not in the ultimate sense of ousting the boss, but by turning fans further against the Slot regime.
Two years ago, Salah had a touchline row with Jurgen Klopp at West Ham and later told reporters at the London Stadium: ‘If I speak today, there will be fire.’
Maybe he knew that going head-to-head with Klopp, the legendary figure who was – and still is – untouchable in the eyes of many supporters, was not a battle he could win.
So Salah was kicking a man when he was down when discussing how standards have slipped under Slot – but is he wrong?
Two years ago, Salah had a touchline row with Jurgen Klopp at West Ham and later told reporters at the London Stadium: ‘If I speak today, there will be fire’
Salah will leave Liverpool this summer having helped transform the club from doubters to believers
The forward, in his final week at the club, has been the standard-bearer and example-setter for the best part of a decade at Anfield. He joined in 2017 and, perhaps more than anyone, transformed Liverpool from a team of doubters to believers, to use his words.
Salah joined a team that had not been English champions since 1990 and won just a single trophy – the 2012 League Cup – in the 10 previous seasons. In the eight seasons before his arrival, their average league position was fifth.
In the nine years since he signed, they have finished in the top four every season bar one, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the FA Cup, two League Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup.
Now he has watched – and been part of, it must be admitted – a wretched campaign where Liverpool will not only go trophyless, but end it in a state of mutiny, unrest and disillusionment. Twenty defeats, not learning from mistakes, £446million spent only to take a backward step.
Is it not a sign of a winning mentality to regard this season as a failure? Is being content with scraping Champions League qualification in the final week of the season not just rewinding the clock to those barren years in the early 2010s?
No one is bigger than the club, of course, and equally no team or fanbase should be entitled to success every year.
But whoever you want to point the finger of blame at, standards have slipped this season and that is a fact.
Whoever you want to point the finger of blame at, standards have slipped at Liverpool this season
This latest public spat will give ammunition to the anti-Slot brigade, an increasingly significant section of Liverpool’s fanbase
Salah will soon head for the exit door and Slot will remain in charge for the beginning of next season.
He will be glad to see the back of him but the Egyptian King, the poster boy of this golden generation at Anfield, will be sorely missed.
This episode has given more ammunition to the anti-Slot brigade as they try to shoot down the head coach.
If he does indeed win them back over, it would be a minor miracle. First, he needs to get the dressing room back on side.
