Ahead of this round’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth, Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted that his decision to leave out Mohamed Salah previously did trouble him – but the same applies to any player.
When asked if leaving Salah out of the squad had troubled him, Slot said: “If I leave a player out, I always feel troubled inside, especially a player of Salah’s importance to the club.
“You can work with a player for a long time and achieve success together, but part of my job is to make decisions I believe are best for the team.
“But it’s always a difficult decision, not just for Salah. Any player I leave out has the quality to play, so it’s really hard to make those calls.”
On how players accept such situations, Slot added: “I think every player knows the manager has to make decisions, and I think 99% of the time, if a player doesn’t play, he will disagree with the manager’s call.
“That’s how it should be. If you don’t believe in yourself, it’s hard to play in front of 60,000 people. Players should have the belief that ‘I’m good enough to play, I deserve to play.’
“I’m not just talking about Salah – I mean everyone. Every player left out feels sad because they want to help the team and prove they can do so. Salah is absolutely one of them, as everyone has seen. In that sense, everyone is the same.”
