Arne Slot now trying to CHANGE Mo Salah after Jurgen Klopp 'PROGRAMMED' him
New Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been ‘on top’ of star forward Mohamed Salah and the desired changes the Dutchman wants from his players.
In Liverpool’s opening fixtures of the Premier League season, we’ve seen the difference in style between Arne Slot and Jürgen Klopp, with Slot’s new-look Reds having a greater focus on retaining possession and dominating the opposition both with and without the ball.
It’s revealing how many of Liverpool’s star players have explained how exacting Slot has been since the former Feyenoord boss has come in, and Salah has been no different in revealing Slot’s standards.
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Speaking in a wide ranging interview with Men in Blazers, transcribed on the Liverpool website, Salah said of the change in style: “Now we are trying to control the ball all the time. I’m not saying before was not, but before it wasn’t really the No.1 thing because with Jürgen [Klopp] most of the time we tried to counter-attack or counter-press and try to win the ball as high as possible. Now we’re still doing that for sure but also when you have the ball you have more time to keep the ball and just try to move the ball around. So, more possession with the ball.”
Salah continued: “The system is quite different but I think we are adapting very well, especially the senior group, because we have been with one manager for seven or eight years. Now we are adapting with a new manager. Everything is working well so far, so hopefully we can continue like that and win big trophies.”
"I want you to adapt"
As for Slot’s demands, Salah opened up on the changes he has had to make to his mentality, saying: “Yes, definitely, because naturally when you keep doing things for seven or eight years, you’re subconsciously programmed to do it that way. So the new manager, especially in the pre-season, he was on top of those things and told me, ‘OK, I know you did that for many years but our pressing is quite different so I want you to adapt to that as well.’ So, I’m trying to adapt to it. So far it’s working well for all of us, so hopefully we keep going in that direction.”
The changes haven’t hurt Salah’s performances, getting two goals and an assist in the Reds’ opening Premier League matches.