Mo Salah aims new dig at Arne Slot as Liverpool legend releases powerful statement

Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah expressed a desire to see the Reds return to a "heavy-metal" team in a lengthy statement after Friday's 4-2 Premier League loss to Aston Villa.

The reigning champions remain at risk of missing out on a spot in next season's Champions League owing to their dismal evening at Villa Park, where Unai Emery's men sealed a top-five finish at the expense of Arne Slot's side.

Liverpool have now suffered an appalling 19 losses in all competitions this season, and they have also broken their own unwanted club record for the most goals conceded in a 38-game Premier League campaign, with 52.

The Reds' fall from grace had led to incessant calls for Slot to be sacked, but the Liverpool board are planning for the 2026-27 season with the Dutchman in charge and are not considering a move for Xabi Alonso, who is instead edging closer to joining Chelsea.

While Slot is likely to stay, Salah will soon leave, but the 33-year-old has appeared to aim a parting dig at his manager's style of play, saying on X: "I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions.

Mohamed Salah: 'I want to see Liverpool play heavy-metal football'

"It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that. Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve.

"I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.

"That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.

"Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family.

"I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on. As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen."

How Arne Slot's Liverpool compare to Jurgen Klopp's "heavy metal" Reds team

It is an open secret that Salah and Slot's relationship is far from cordial, and the cracks have only ever been papered over since the Egypt international's brief exile from the team before the Africa Cup of Nations.

The attacker's emphatic statement suggests that he is pining for the Jurgen Klopp days to return - the days where Liverpool suffocated opposing teams in all areas of the field and won almost every trophy there was to be won.

Even in Klopp's 2023-24 farewell season - one of his less successful campaigns - Liverpool averaged 7.3 shots on target per game in the Premier League. Two years later, that figure has dropped to 4.5.

Furthermore, during Liverpool's triumphant 2019-20 season, Klopp's team averaged 18.1 pressed sequences per game; that number has fallen to 12.6 in 2025-26 amid Slot's more conservative approach.

Salah will make his final Liverpool appearance against Brentford next Sunday, but despite growing fan and player discontent, Slot should avoid following the Reds legend out of the door.