Arne Slot softens stance as Mohamed Salah tension shifts after Inter Milan win

Liverpool manager Arne Slot appeared to ease his hardline position regarding star forward Mohamed Salah late Tuesday night. This came immediately after the Reds secured a vital 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League group stage.

The decisive win, snatched by an 88th-minute penalty, was achieved without the Egyptian international. Salah had been conspicuously left back on Merseyside after a notable sideline incident during Saturday’s league fixture against Leeds United.

Slot’s initial comments suggested a cooling-off period was needed.

The narrative surrounding the relationship between the manager and his talisman took a subtle but important turn post-match.

Before addressing the broader media corps, Slot engaged in a brief exchange with former player and pundit Clarence Seedorf. He acknowledged the complexity of the situation and the inevitability of human error.

“Everyone makes mistakes in life,” Slot told Seedorf. “So the first thing should be does the player feels he made a mistake as well?”

The manager did not dismiss future dialogue with the influential forward. “I haven’t said that I’m not going to talk with him,” Slot stated.

“And then the next question is, should the initiative come from him, or from me?” This statement initially placed the onus of reconciliation on Salah’s shoulders.

However, during his subsequent, formal press conference, the Liverpool boss quickly moved to clarify and slightly retract his earlier comments.

Slot sought to remove any immediate focus from the disciplinary issue. He insisted that the post-match discussion should revolve solely around the players who had earned the crucial away win.

“I didn’t say who anything about who should make the first step,” Slot asserted to the assembled journalists.  “Tonight it should be all about the players that are here.”

“In the rich history Liverpool has had they have had many of these evenings,” he concluded.