Former scout Mick Brown has claimed that Arne Slot has “been thrown under the bus” at Liverpool, heaping blame on Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
The Dutchman is desperately battling to save his job at Anfield, with the upcoming Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain massive for him.
Despite many saying that Slot needs to shoulder the blame for such an awful season, Brown has told Football Insider that Van Dijk and Salah haven’t helped matters at all, among others:
“Slot has been thrown under the bus at Liverpool. Look through the squad, how many of them can you say have really performed to their top level? But it’s the manager who picks up the bill for it. He’s been badly let down by a number of his senior players.
“Van Dijk has got a brilliant reputation which has been well-earned, but he hasn’t performed anywhere close to his usual standard this season. Salah as well, we’ve spoken about him a number of times and the fact he’s dropped off.
“Then looking through the team, you’ve got players like Ibrahima Konate for example who again has been nowhere near the level required of him.
“So all of these things start to add up, but eventually it’s the manager who has to deal with it when results aren’t going their way. If Slot does get sacked by Liverpool, the players are just as much to blame as anything else.”
Hugely harsh to blame Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah
These comments from Brown don’t seem fair, even if Van Dijk and Salah have failed to reach the legendary past heights throughout this season.
They are now 34 and 33, respectively, so it is only natural that their powers have waned, and in fact, Van Dijk has produced plenty of good performances.
It is Slot who should still be blamed more than anyone for this season, with the buck stopping with the manager in any football team, both when they are thriving and struggling.
Other players have been more guilty than Van Dijk and Salah when it comes to not always giving their all, too, so Brown’s opinion is wide of the mark.
