Mo Salah is set to depart Liverpool after next week. After Friday's defeat to Aston Villa, he put out a statement and expressed his thoughts of where Liverpool should be once he leaves. His comments has spread criticism regarding his views.
Salah hit out at the style of play under Arne Slot, calling for a return to the "heavy metal" attacking football synonymous with former boss, Jurgen Klopp.
In a scathing assessment of Liverpool's form this season, Salah said in a statement on social media: "I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions."
"It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.
"Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good."
"It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it. Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games."
"Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on. As I've always said, qualifying to next season's Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen."
It's not the first time Salah has criticised the Liverpool head coach this season. In December, he hit out at Slot in a bombshell interview, insisting the pair's relationship had broken down.
Sky Sports pundit and former Man Utd captain, Gary Neville, said he didn't approve of Salah speaking out in such a manner, but says his most recent comments reflect his unhappiness.
"He's pulled the pin out of a grenade right in the middle of the room. And he's walking out of the room," said Neville. "Mo's not happy over there."
"It's not great. If he was a Manchester United player, I'd be fuming. But what you can never do with this kind of player, with this kind of stature and personality, is keep them quiet. If they've got something to say, they're going to say it. And they're going to say it at the point where you don't want to hear it."
"That was a telling comment. Arne Slot will not welcome it whatsoever. But he will just want to get to the end of the season, get out of there, get everyone out of there that's not going to be there next season, and try and build."
Liverpool legend, Steven Gerrard, has described Mohamed Salah's lengthy social media post as "damning" while questioning whether the Egyptian is speaking solely for himself or voicing the concerns of the wider Liverpool dressing room.
Gerrard believes the 33-year-old, who will bring his Anfield career to a close at the end of the season, has signaled to the wider world that all is not well within the Liverpool camp.
"Wow. Listen, that is extremely interesting," he told TNT Sports. "Mo Salah doesn't really speak much and he doesn't tweet, and he certainly doesn't tweet like that.
"So I think that he's sending a message to the outside that things in that Liverpool dressing room are not right: the identity's gone and it's really hurting him to see it in front of his own eyes."
"I'm surprised of the timing. One game to go, his last game for Liverpool."
Steven Gerrard has described Mohamed Salah's lengthy social media post as "damning" while questioning whether the Egyptian is speaking solely for himself or voicing the concerns of the wider Liverpool dressing room.
In his post, Salah called for Liverpool to return to being a "heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear" following its "crumbling" defeat to Aston Villa on Friday night.
The forward has never shied away from expressing his views, and Liverpool clinched the Premier League title last season under Slot, who succeeded the high-energy Jurgen Klopp. The forward's scathing critique of the Reds' current style of play has widely been interpreted as a thinly veiled dig at the under-pressure head coach.
"So I think that he's sending a message to the outside that things in that Liverpool dressing room are not right: the identity's gone and it's really hurting him to see it in front of his own eyes.
"You guys know, you've been involved in the media: he very rarely speaks, he's done interviews lately because he's obviously bringing the curtain down on an incredible Liverpool career."But that is quite damning to the Liverpool manager and the staff in terms of where this team's at. That's my opinion on that.
"Is he speaking off his own back for the sake of everyone else in the dressing room? It's strange, it's unusual. He's going to be doing a load of media around his last game, I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to the coming days because that's unusual for a Liverpool player, and it's unusual for Mo Salah."
Liverpool's defeat against Unai Emery's side at Villa Park marked Liverpool's 19th defeat across all competitions this season; leaving its Champions League qualification in the balance.
Gerrard acknowledged the painful nature of how comprehensively the Reds were outplayed in the Midlands.
"Crumbling is a strong word," he added. "It's quite damning, the timing. It's unusual coming from Mo. The pressure's on the players and the pressure's on the manager because it's been nowhere near good enough.
"The performance last night was terrible, it was awful, it was difficult to watch from start to finish, and it hurt me watching Liverpool last night. I don't normally say that. It was a tough 90 minutes and they got what they deserved. Villa were better all over the pitch."
"There was no fight, no passion, no pattern of play, no connection, they're not moving around the pitch together, individuals were miles off what I know they can perform at. It hurt me to watch Liverpool last night; they were nowhere near good enough. Let's finish on that note."
Slot has indicated he is hoping to oversee a busy summer transfer window at Liverpool, and Neville believes the Dutchman will get the chance to turn results around next season especially given former Reds player, Xabi Alonso, who many had tipped to eventually return to Anfield as manager, has been named Chelsea boss.
"The signing of Xabi Alonso did tell me that Liverpool are going to keep their manager," Neville said. "Which I'm happy about. A manager who won the league 12 months ago deserves another chance to get it right, having had a more challenging season this time. He's still in the Champions League. But Salah's comment won't be helpful."
Liverpool's trophyless season comes to an end at home to Brentford on 24 May. Depending on results for Bournemouth and Brighton over the next few days, Liverpool might need a positive result to secure a top-five finish to qualify for the Champions League.
The Dutchman accepted supporters might not find reason to be optimistic after a difficult campaign, but he is expecting better from his side next season. "I can understand at this moment of time that they don't have a lot of confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season," Slot said.
"But I think then they are underestimating what a window can do, what a new start can do, and I think we know quite well what to improve. I think one of the things we have to improve is also very, very, very obvious, and I would have preferred not to talk about it here, but you're actually almost forcing me to."
"If you miss nine players that can start a game of football, and almost all of them are starters for us or have been for large part of the season, then if you add that to what you can improve in a window and add that to players that are playing for the second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to much more.
"I don't think the differences are so big, only doing in a few situations the right thing can already have a best massive upwards possibility."
A host of team-mates have since offered their support by liking Salah’s post on Instagram, while Hugo Ekitike and Curtis Jones have commented 'handshake' and 'applause' emojis, respectively.
Shortly after, Jones wrote: "Thank you for your continued support in a disappointing season. It’s way off the standards expected at this football club."
Among the current and former team-mates to have liked Salah’s message are: Hugo Ekitike; Andy Robertson; Dominik Szoboszlai; Wataru Endo; Harvey Elliott; Roberto Firmino and Jordan Henderson.
Fans have also been reacting, mostly in support of the Egyptians’s statement.
One wrote, "I don’t think the higher ups will get a bigger sign that players are no longer with Slot. Salah may be leaving, but he’s a leader in the club, and there’s no way he’s alone in his thinking. Several players already liking and commenting."
Another one wrote, "You cannot tell me this was not directed at Slot! Clearly, the claim that the players still ‘believe’ in him is PR nonsense. Is it a surprise he’s selling all of the old guard as well as those who might have opposing opinions to him (ie. Jones)."
A further one wrote, "Mo's gone for the head with that statement. Love it. Nothing to lose. True leader."
Fellow departing player, Andy Robertson, has also spoken out. Robertson was an unused substitute at Villa Park but writing on Instagram after the game, he bemoaned what he saw from his team-mates.
"A performance which sums up our season. A long way short of the levels of this club and what you (the fans) rightly expect of us,” Robertson wrote.“But I can only thank you for the last nine years of travelling up and down the country and all over the world packing out away ends wherever we go!"
"Will see you next week for one last time."
This is a Villans team with a Europa League final to come next Wednesday but Liverpool were the only side who looked like their focus was elsewhere.
The 2025-26 season can't end soon enough for Arne Slot and his players, and the supporters for that matter, and key conversations need to take place at Anfield.
Ongoing reports claim that Slot will remain in charge of Liverpool beyond the summer but he is showing almost nothing to suggest that such faith in him is merited.
The Dutchman has now lost the majority of the fanbase, and going into next season with disgruntled supporters would be far from ideal.
For now, it’s a case of Liverpool getting over the line in the Champions League battle, but you wouldn’t put it past them to make a mess of next Sunday’s visit of Brentford.
I believe departing players have the freedom to say and do anything they want. They can't face any punishment from the club they represent. As a Man Utd fan, I'm thrilled with the state that Liverpool are in. I'd be on cloud nine if Arne Slot remains in charge for a long time.
I believe he's essentially undoing the hard work that Jurgen Klopp had done.