Slot explains why he benched Salah for 3 matches

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has explained the reasons behind the controversial decision to bench Mohamed Salah for three consecutive matches, explaining that he was only trying to fix their struggles this season. 

Salah went on a full-throated rant after the match against Leeds United, the third of the three games in which he was benched. 

The 33-year-old told reporters that his relationship with Slot had completely broken down, and he accused the club of having thrown him under the bus. 

Ahead of the Champions League clash against Inter tomorrow, which Salah will not be participating in, as punishment for his comments, Slot explained why he failed to start the club legend for three consecutive matches.  

“We, as a team, struggled this season and more and more last season with the game plans other teams had against us,” he stated, per the BBC. "So I am not talking about the long ball style, which is something teams do against us now.

"I have tried to come up with my solutions because that is my job. We have tried many things, and we looked very vulnerable after all the things I've tried against Forest and PSV.

"I decided to pay with an extra midfielder in the game against West Ham. We won the game, so I decided to do it one more time against Sunderland.

"At half-time, I brought him [Salah] in. Then against Leeds, we faced a 5-3-2, and I decided to play a 4-4-2 diamond if you want to talk about it like this, with Hugo Ekitike a bit off the right side and Cody Gakpo a bit off the left and Florian Wirtz in between. I could have played Mo off the right, but I decided to play Hugo.”