Salah Will Always Score Goals, Says Liverpool Boss Slot

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
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Salah Will Always Score Goals, Says Liverpool Boss Slot

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024, in Manchester, England. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Liverpool manager Arne Slot was not the least bit surprised by the superb performance of Mohamed Salah in their 2-0 Champions League victory over Bologna on Wednesday.

Salah set up Alexis Mac Allister's goal with a pinpoint cross and then bagged his own with a rocket to the top corner for an astounding 49th goal in the Champions League.

It was Salah's third goal in his last three games, which came on the back of a three-game mini drought.

"Before (last week's League Cup win over West Ham United), Mo played three games without scoring a goal. So it is in football, it can happen that sometimes in three games, you score one or you don't score," Slot said, Reuters reported.

"But these players, like Mo, they will always score their goals if you just keep playing them."

The manager would not speculate on Salah's future at the Merseyside club. Salah's contract expires at the end of this season and he has said this will be his last season at Anfield.

"Mo has done really well today, and I'm happy with the way he does at the moment, and I'm not looking forward to next season," Slot said.

The 46-year-old Dutchman, who replaced Juergen Klopp in the close season, has become the team's first manager to win eight of their first nine games across all competitions.

His team have won their opening two in the Champions League to sit fifth in the 36-team table. They also top the Premier League. Slot, however, shrugged off the accolade.

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"I don't draw many conclusions from that, but it's nice. So many incredible managers have worked here, doing so many special things," he said. "The only thing is I hope it is not the only thing people remember me for in two or three years or however long I am here. If all they say is, 'that's the manager who won eight out of nine!'

"I'm hoping to do more special things than just win eight out of my first nine games."

He also praised Klopp for the squad he inherited.

"It also says how I have been left this club -- the work rate the players put in, how the staff are helping me get these results," Slot said.



Man United Has Been Revamped by Ratcliffe but it's the Same Old Story for Ten Hag

Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag - The AP
Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag - The AP
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Man United Has Been Revamped by Ratcliffe but it's the Same Old Story for Ten Hag

Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag - The AP
Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag - The AP

It feels like Groundhog Day for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag. Another season has hit crisis point after only a few games.

Perhaps that's why the United manager was so dismissive of the renewed pressure on him after last week's humbling 3-0 loss to Tottenham.

“Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about because I experienced it so often with my teams during seasons that you are facing those problems,” he said this week. He is right.

United's record of three losses after six English Premier League games is in keeping with his two previous campaigns at Old Trafford, The AP reported.

In 2022, he lost his opening two and three of the first seven.

In 2023 it was even worse, as United lost three of five at the start.

Both of those seasons ended with a trophy, but the feel-good factor provided by the most recent silverware — May's FA Cup triumph against Manchester City - has long evaporated in the face of the likelihood that United's 11-year wait for the league title is set to go on.

There is little sign of progress in the league despite spending around $750 million on transfers.

On Sunday, United travels to Aston Villa, which has been transformed by manager Unai Emery, who has worked on a fraction of that budget. The Spaniard has spent around $270 million to turn Villa from a team that was battling relegation when he took over in October 2022 to one that beat beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Another defeat for United would intensify questions about Ten Hag's position ahead of the October international break, which has traditionally been a time when clubs look to make managerial changes.

Emery's success at Villa is evidence of what can be achieved in a short period of time. Villa was three points above the relegation zone when he was hired. In his first full season, he led the Midlands club to fourth, eight points ahead of United and qualified for the Champions League.

He is yet to deliver silverware, but the trajectory is clearly upward.

United is 13th heading into the weekend, having finished last season in eighth and the previous year third.

Ten Hag kept his job only after an extensive review by United's new hierarchy put in place by minority owner Jim Ratcliffe. But even if he was given a vote of confidence and a one-year extension to his contract, he remains a legacy of a failing operation that Ratcliffe is trying to overhaul since buying a 27.7% stake in the club in February.

What's more, the decision to keep Ten Hag was made before new CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth officially took up their positions in the offseason.

Both insisted in September the Dutchman had their full backing, but managers are ultimately judged by results on the field and the sight of United fans leaving early and some booing at the end of the Tottenham game highlighted growing dissatisfaction again around the club.

Ten Hag has a new coaching staff, including former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, but familiar problems abound.

United has previously sacked managers David Moyes, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in mid-season, but never one before November in the modern era.

That might provide Ten Hag with some comfort as he tries, once again, to turn United's season around.