Liverpool will be hosting West Ham at Anfield this weekend, and Arne Slot has provided a crucial Florian Wirtz injury update and honest opinion on Mohamed Salah's form in his press conference before the game. Arne Slot has been heavily criticized this season by Liverpool fans and pundits, as the Reds were heavy favourites to win the Premier League again this season. However, results have been poor and there were even calls for the Dutch manager to get sacked mid-season.
Arne Slot has managed to silence the critics and doubters though in the past few months, as Liverpool have been on a great run from a results perspective. It is still worrying though that the Reds have been quite underwhelming if we have a look at their performances in each game, as individual quality has helped them achieve results rather than solid team effort. The Dutch manager still has lots to improve before the season ends, and Nottingham Forest at Anfield will be their next challenge.
Arne Slot gives Liverpool players injury update and honest opinion on Mohamed Salah's form during Press Conference
The following is what Arne said in regards to Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz injury update:
"Jeremie is OK, trained with us and is available, don't expect Florian to be, which is a disappointment, every time my player isn't available is disappointment and I didn't expect. No [idea how long he is out] usually I do but don't want to share it but I honestly don't know. It's a big accomplishment for him to stay fit for such a long time because he had to stay fit to make the step up but unfortunately he is not available, which is a disappointment for him and for us, because he played really well."
Arne Slot was also asked about Mohamed Salah's poor run without scoring a Premier League goal, his response was as follows:
"He set his own standards and those are so, so, so high that the moment when he doesn’t score for a few games, people are immediately surprised. So that is only something that’s probably the biggest compliment he can get. And then with data you can use it in your advantage or disadvantage. So, not to use the FA Cup game if we play a Premier League side, you can argue if that is fair. But that’s the way it works. If we want to highlight something really positive, we try to forget one or two games. If we want to highlight something really negative, we can try to forget one or two games as well.
For me, I think it’s quite recently – three games ago – that he had an assist and a goal against a Premier League side, Brighton, that is a very good Premier League team for so many years already. So, that’s the reality. Then you can change data and say he did not score in nine Premier League games. That’s the standard he set for himself, that’s why people are surprised when things like that happen.”
Our opinion on Liverpool's injury crisis and Arne Slot's opinion on Mohamed Salah
The return of Jeremie Frimpong is a huge boost for Liverpool, as he has been fantastic for the Reds whenever he has played for them. However, it should be worrying to see the former Bayer Leverkusen star get constantly injured like this in what is his first season at the club. It doesn't even matter if Jeremie Frimpong is the best right-back or right wing-back in the world if he keeps getting injured like this. Liverpool would hope he can remain fit for the remainder of the season,.or they'll have a huge Jeremie Frimpong issue to sort out.
Coming to Florian Wirtz, the timing of his injury is an extremely unfortunate one. After a difficult start to his life in the Premier League, Wirtz was finally starting to show why paid the big bucks for him. The German also began to score frequently in important games as well, which was a major positive considering the difficulty he had in recording his first direct goal involvement in the Premier League.
Finally, we feel that Arne Slot's comments regarding Mohamed Salah are sadly a defensive one. In most cases, whatever he said about Mohamed Salah should've been true, as the Egyptian has indeed set the standards so high during his time at Anfield that even a slight dip in form would be questioned. However, we are seeing a totally different Mohamed Salah this season in the Premier League, one that has lost his electric pace and is a shadow of the player last saw who many expected to win the Ballon d'Or. We believe Salah can no longer perform at the highest level, and his exit from Liverpool after this season is inevitable. If it does end up happening, it will truly be the end of an era.
