Jamie Carragher warns Arne Slot he is powerless in Mohamed Salah row ahead of Liverpool star’s final game | OneFootball

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot faces an unenviable dilemma this weekend, with former defender Jamie Carragher suggesting he "cannot win" when it comes to managing Mohamed Salah's final appearance for the club.

Carragher believes Slot lacks the authority to sideline the Egypt international, despite recent tensions.

Salah’s recent social media post, published on Saturday, was widely interpreted as a thinly veiled critique of Slot. The forward’s message, which heavily referenced terminology associated with former manager Jürgen Klopp, was liked by several teammates.

The upcoming match against Brentford on Sunday is set to be Salah’s last game for Liverpool at Anfield before his summer exit.

The Premier League fixture holds significant weight, potentially determining the club’s Champions League qualification for next season, should Bournemouth remain in contention and secure a result against Manchester City.

Jamie Carragher believes Slot cannot win when making his decision on Salah (Richard Sellers/PA) (PA Wire)

Carragher acknowledged that the outcome of this crucial game must take precedence. However, he suggested that if qualification were already secured, Slot might have more justification to make a statement regarding the long-serving forward.

Such a move, however, risks further alienating fans who largely remain supportive of Salah, having reportedly grown disillusioned with Slot’s tactics and the team’s recent performances.

"I don’t think a manager should ever cut off his nose to spite his face, he should always do what’s going to give the team the best chance of a result – if he needs a result," Carragher stated on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.

He continued: "If he doesn’t need a result and Liverpool are already qualified then that might be something different but the position Arne Slot is in right now with the supporters, it is very difficult not to give Mo Salah some sort of big send off.

“You almost can’t win in some ways. If he had a bit more power… But if it was me and I was Arne Slot, I think I would play it a little bit clever if I’d got the result (from Bournemouth) and was in the Champions League positions."

In his social media post, Salah expressed a desire for Liverpool to revert to being a "heavy metal attacking team" – a direct nod to Klopp’s philosophy. He wrote: "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."

This is not the first instance of public friction between Salah and Slot this season. Following a December match at Leeds, where Salah was benched during a poor run of form, he gave an extraordinary post-match interview, claiming he had been "thrown under the bus" and no longer had a relationship with the Dutchman.

While the pair reconciled after Salah’s return from the Africa Cup of Nations, the announcement in March that his two-year deal would be cut short suggested underlying issues persisted behind the scenes.