The current Premier League title holders suffered a humiliating 4-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Wednesday night. ..Continue Reading
It marked their third straight loss by a three-goal margin and their ninth defeat in 12 matches — the club’s worst run in over seven decades — prompting boos from the Anfield crowd.
Despite a record £450 million summer spend, Slot’s future is now under scrutiny, just months after leading Liverpool to the league title in his debut season.
Hamann, a Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005, argued that Slot won’t survive the crisis if he continues to rely on Salah.
The Egyptian forward has struggled to replicate his usual form this season, falling short of the standards that made him the club’s third-highest scorer in history.
Following another underwhelming performance, Hamann delivered a blunt assessment. He told RTE Sport: “You’ve got to make a decision.
“In a way, I like that he kept the team from the other day, because he gave them a chance to redeem themselves.
“But then again, there comes a point when you’ve got to drop players. And even big players.
“I thought Salah might be one of the first ones to be dropped. He’s got a decision to make: do you get the sack with Salah? Or keep your job without him?
“This is the decision he has to make. He’s got to think, ‘These are the players who give me the best chance’.
“He gave him [Salah] a chance. I think it will be a different story on Sunday.”
Virgil van Dijk has also faced backlash for a strange handball that led to PSV’s opening goal, while Ibrahima Konate is under fire for another shaky outing.
Hamann added that beyond his lack of attacking impact, Salah was ‘disgraceful’ in his defensive effort for PSV’s second goal scored by Guus Til.
The ex-midfielder said: “What Salah did for the second PSV goal… Slot had the chance to take him off straight away.
“What he did there was disgraceful. For a player with the calibre of Salah… and it pains me to say. He’s been the guy who has been carrying the team for the last seven or eight years.
“But the way he let the player go past him without doing anything to help the team…”
Earlier that day, Hamann appeared on talkSPORT and voiced concerns about Slot’s future at Liverpool.
When asked directly about the pressure mounting on his position, Slot responded: “I don’t think it’s important if it’s fair or not. It’s normal.
“I understand if any manager around the world loses football games, let alone as many as we have lost, it’s quite normal that people have an opinion about that.
“Whether it’s fair or not is for the people to judge, but that is normal. If you lose so many times, people start talking about that.”
Leave a Reply