Sports
Arne Slot Has Unfairly Treated 5 Other Liverpool Stars
“I could not believe I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,” Mohamed Salah said after not coming off the bench for Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United on Saturday 6 December. “That’s the third time. It’s the first time in my career I think. I am very disappointed, I have done so much for this club over years, especially last season, It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.” The premise of his argument is that he’s been treated unfairly by Arne Slot.
A vital player for the Reds ever since making the Italy-to-England switch, having signed from AS Roma, in the summer of 2017, Salah is a name etched into Anfield folklore – but his departure is seemingly inevitable and his public assessment of his situation may just speed up that process.
Signing the Egyptian was a risk, of course, given that he failed to establish himself as a regular at Chelsea in the years prior – but Jurgen Klopp, after a bit of convincing that he’d prove to be a better addition than Julian Brandt, turned him into a goal-getting machine.
Salah also fired on all cylinders in Slot’s maiden campaign, which resulted in the club’s second-ever Premier League title with four matches to spare… but he’s no longer one of Slot’s indispensables. Forgetting what has happened to the record-breaking wide man for a second, there are five other Liverpool players who have been treated unfairly by the Liverpool boss. From players being sold too prematurely to Slot purely not giving others their well-deserved flowers, let’s take a closer look at the quintet of curious cases.
Andy Robertson
It was all change in Anfield’s full-back department in the summer: Trent Alexander-Arnold packed his bags and joined Real Madrid, while Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong were signed from Bournemouth and Bayer Leverkusen, respectively. The seasoned Andy Robertson – who is widely regarded as one of the best left-backs in the history of the Premier League – stayed put, but minutes have been hard to come by.
Kerkez’s arrival inevitably caused confusion over Robertson’s spot in the starting line-up but given the Hungarian has not played particularly well at left-back this term, why shouldn’t the former Hull City man be trusted more? Experienced, talented and a natural-born leader, the 31-year-old has put together a compelling case to be ahead of Kerkez in the pecking order right now. At the time of writing, he’s started just 20% of Liverpool’s 2025/26 Premier League matches.
Jarell Quansah
Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer. A young lad with heaps of potential, it begs the question of why the 22-year-old didn’t get more of a chance at the heart of defence. Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk have struggled to find any semblance of telepathy during the club’s downfall following their initial five-match winning streak and Quansah, a once-capped England international, could’ve been used sporadically to ease the pressure. The fact that he has caught the attention of Thomas Tuchel proves that he is talented enough to push for a starting spot on the red half of Merseyside.
Sell-On Clause and Buyback Decision – What Liverpool Agreed When They Sold Jarell Quansah
Liverpool made a buyback decision when they sold Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen
Slot, however, was clearly not a fan of the central defender. Back in August, during Slot’s first Premier League match in charge of the Reds against Ipswich Town, Quansah was hooked at half-time and Slot later claimed that his failure to win duels against the Tractor Boys’ forwards was the reason why. Following his half-time humiliation, the academy graduate struggled to get a good run of matches under his belt, with him typically playing in dead rubber fixtures.
Wataru Endo
Alongside Chiesa, it’s fair to say that Wataru Endo is an unsung hero of Liverpool’s. Something of a forgotten figure once Klopp left, the gumshield-wearing midfielder is unfortunate not to be getting more minutes in his legs. Signed from VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2023, Endo was trusted to boss the engine room in Klopp’s final campaign at the helm, but his fortunes were flipped on their head following the arrival of Slot.
The Japanese hero has played just 242 minutes of football across all competitions since Liverpool’s curtain-raiser in August – and it’s not unfair to say that Slot’s men could benefit from having the energetic 32-year-old in the middle. Liverpool are (uncharacteristically) conceding goals at an alarming rate and with no real defensive midfielder in the squad, one would expect him to be playing more than he actually is.
Federico Chiesa
What Liverpool are lacking at the moment are players willing to take games by the scruff of the neck. Federico Chiesa, albeit not a world-beater, is a man who can make stuff happen – but that is not enough for Slot and company to trust him more often. A livewire when he plays, the Italian may have endeared himself to the Anfield faithful with ease, but impressing Slot will surely be at the top of his priority list.
In truth, judging by his 143 minutes in the Premier League, Genoa-born Chiesa has been one of Liverpool’s better players in what has been a rather dismal season, but Slot’s comments after the winger’s last-ditch block against Sunderland painted the picture as clearly as possible. “Yeah, I think that’s what you want a team – or a player – to do in a situation like that,” Slot said.
“To just give everything, even in a situation where you feel you cannot do a lot anymore. Just keep running and that’s what he [Federico Chiesa] did and that’s why he cleared the ball off the line,” the boss finished. Fans believed Chiesa, a player who wears his heart on his sleeve irrespective of his lack of game time, deserves much better treatment.
Harvey Elliott
Born and raised in London, Harvey Elliott – in his pursuit of becoming a star in the Premier League – left the capital to join Liverpool in the summer of 2019. From playing in the club’s academy to winning two top flight titles, it was a dream come true for the 22-year-old to finally earn his Anfield stripes… but it’s somewhat gone downhill since.
The perfect utility player under Klopp’s tenure, Slot couldn’t find much space for him in 2024/25, and he played one minute for Liverpool before his deadline day transfer to Aston Villa on loan in September.
Last season, he picked up just 822 minutes of action – 360 of those coming in the league – as Slot preferred the likes of Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai to run the middle of the park. Curtis Jones, too, was ahead of him in the manager’s plans, but Elliott wanted to remain and fight for his place. That was not to be the case in Slot’s eyes, and a temporary move to Villa Park came to fruition and the Dutch tactician recently admitted that he’s barely been in contact with the Englishman.
