The Egyptian attacker was impressed early on with his new manager and feels Liverpool are primed for much more success.
Liverpool are just a week away from wrapping up their first season under Arne Slot, putting a bow on it as they will be presented the Premier League trophy next Sunday. With a successful first season all but finished, much of the attention now is turning to next season. One of they key pieces has already been settled as Mohamed Salah inked a new two year deal to keep him at the club until the summer of 2027. In an interview with Sky Sports, Salah described the joy of winning the Premier League this year, as well as his desires and ambitions to go after another Champions League trophy…among others.
“Well, this season I won the Premier League and I think I never felt happier in the club for eight years like this moment in the Spurs game.”
“I really wish [that] we win the Champions League again. I know the Premier League is always nice for the club, that’s how it should be, but I think I would love to win the Champions League again and the Premier League again – at least one in the two years.”
“It’s good: the players are new, the players are excited, the players are young. They learn from us [the senior players] and they also have their ability to give it all, so I think we have a very good group and I think we can win every trophy that we can want.”
Many wondered what the transition would look like for Liverpool after Arne Slot took over after nearly a decade of Jürgen Klopp at the helm. Mohamed Salah said that Slot earned his trust early on with some straightforward conversations that built a mutual respect.
“We had a few honest conversations between us [last summer] and he was very honest and he showed me a few clips of mine and said, ‘With this Mo we can win everything, with this one we can’t win much. So, I want to get the best out of you, I want this one to be available the whole season and I want you to have your best years coming with me.’”
“I said, ‘OK, let me know what you want from me then I will do it because I’m very professional and I know what I can do.’ So, he didn’t challenge me, honestly. I just felt it was like he was very respectful and I told him that, ‘You’re a very respectful person.’”
“He was very respectful and he treated me different. So, it wasn’t really challenging me, it was just showing me what he wanted from me and he asked me also, if you want to add something or if you want to change something, be open with me. And yeah, that was great.”
Salah also was quite impressed early on with the tactical acumen displayed by the new manager. Mo felt that Slot displayed a great willingness to adapt on the fly to get the best from his players and get the desired results rather than focus on doing it “his way”.
“I think in the first few games, in the second half he always changed the tactics. Not just that [substitutions], the tactics themselves.”
You go to the game and you see some managers like, ‘This is my style and you have to do it the whole game,’ but he’s adapting somehow to how our opponent is playing and just like putting Dominik [Szoboszlai] in a different position, putting Macca [Alexis Mac Allister] in a different position… he doesn’t have that ego that, ‘OK, these are my tactics and it didn’t work but it will work in the second half.’ No, no, no. He can adapt around. And in my head that’s very clever, very disciplined.”