Florian Wirtz has dismissed the notion that Mohamed Salah's social media post following Liverpool's 4-2 loss to Aston Villa last week was aimed at criticising Arne Slot. The Reds playmaker explained why claims that the squad have turned against head coach Slot are mistaken, as they aim to clinch Champions League qualification at home to Brentford on Sunday after a challenging season.
Liverpool's defeat at Villa Park last week, their 12th of the Premier League campaign, was followed less than 24 hours later by a post from Salah that seemed to question the playing philosophy favoured by Slot, stating: "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." The remark was broadly seen as another dig at Slot following Salah's claim in December that he had been "thrown under the bus" by the head coach after being dropped from the starting XI for three consecutive Premier League matches for the first time during his Anfield career.
Wirtz, however, insists Salah holds sufficient standing within the club to express himself openly and rejected suggestions the post was intended to fuel speculation that his relationship with Slot has deteriorated behind closed doors, reports the Liverpool Echo. The Germany international, who 'liked' the post on Instagram, also revealed to The Athletic why he felt moved to publicly back the concerns raised by the iconic Salah.
Wirtz on Salah's post: "Mo has known the club for a long time now. He's just an honest guy. He says what he thinks. This should be OK. If you want to speak, you should be able to speak. Of course, it was a bit of a difficult season for all of us, including Mo. In my opinion, it got made bigger than it was. I don't think he attacked anyone."
"I like Mo's mentality in general - how he sees things, how he works. He's a guy you can listen to, because he has seen a lot. He wasn't attacking anyone. With the 'likes' players gave, I think it was made too big. For me, it was just a thing that he wanted to say because he's leaving. He wanted to make everyone in the club alert that we have to work more and do better."
Wirtz on team's season: "We are all anything but happy with this season. I think we can still make a little bit out of it by qualifying for the Champions League on Sunday. We have to do that. Then in the summer, we need to clear our heads and attack next season, because we have a very good squad and we can do much better."
Wirtz, who is set to feature from the off on Sunday against Keith Andrews's side, added: "The outside world is always trying to create something between the team and the manager. But it's totally different in this building. We are working well every day with this manager and his staff. There is no thought about not being behind the manager. This is just something (talked about) on the outside."
The Reds can book their place in next season's Champions League this Sunday, provided they avoid losing at Anfield.
