“I couldn\u2019t believe I sat on the bench for the entire match,\u201d Mohamed Salah said after failing to come on during Liverpool\u2019s 3-3 draw with Leeds United on December 6. \u201cIt\u2019s happened three times now. I think it\u2019s the first time in my career. I\u2019m very disappointed. I\u2019ve given so much to this club over the years, especially last season. It feels like the club has thrown me under the bus.\u201d
\nHis comments made it clear he believes Arne Slot has treated him unfairly.<\/p>\n
Since arriving from Roma in 2017, Salah has been a cornerstone of Liverpool\u2019s success and a true Anfield icon \u2014 but his exit now seems unavoidable, and his public grievances may only accelerate that outcome.<\/p>\n
Signing him wasn\u2019t without risk given his struggles at Chelsea, but Jurgen Klopp \u2014 persuaded that he\u2019d offer more than Julian Brandt \u2014 transformed him into a world-class goalscorer.<\/p>\n
Salah continued that form in Slot\u2019s inaugural season, helping deliver Liverpool\u2019s second Premier League title with four games to spare. Yet now, he is no longer one of Slot\u2019s untouchables. And beyond Salah\u2019s situation, there are five other Liverpool players whom Slot arguably hasn\u2019t treated fairly. From premature sales to players who haven\u2019t received their due credit, here\u2019s a closer look at those cases.<\/p>\n
Andy Robertson<\/p>\n
Liverpool\u2019s full-back setup was shaken up in the summer: Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid, while Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong arrived. Andy Robertson stayed, but his minutes have dwindled.<\/p>\n
Kerkez\u2019s signing raised questions about Robertson\u2019s role \u2014 but with the Hungarian struggling at left-back this season, why hasn\u2019t the experienced Scotsman been trusted more? A respected leader and one of the Premier League\u2019s best left-backs of the modern era, Robertson has a strong case to reclaim his spot. Yet he has started only 20% of Liverpool\u2019s Premier League matches this season.<\/p>\n
Jarell Quansah<\/p>\n
Quansah\u2019s move to Bayer Leverkusen left fans baffled. The 22-year-old had huge potential, and with Van Dijk and Konate lacking chemistry, he could have been eased into the starting rotation.<\/p>\n
Thomas Tuchel\u2019s interest in him highlights his talent, but Slot seemed unconvinced. In Slot\u2019s first Premier League game, Quansah was subbed off at half-time, with the manager pointing to failed duels as his reasoning. After that, Quansah was mostly restricted to low-stakes fixtures before being sold \u2014 a decision that now looks questionable.<\/p>\n
Wataru Endo<\/p>\n
Endo has become one of Liverpool\u2019s forgotten men. A reliable performer under Klopp, he has barely featured under Slot. Since the season began, he has logged only 242 minutes across all competitions.<\/p>\n
With Liverpool leaking goals and lacking a true defensive midfielder, Endo\u2019s absence is puzzling. His work rate and positional discipline could address many of the team\u2019s current issues.<\/p>\n
Federico Chiesa<\/p>\n
Liverpool are currently short on players who can grab a match by the scruff of the neck \u2014 something Chiesa regularly brings when given the chance. Energetic, direct, and fearless, he quickly built a rapport with fans. But that hasn\u2019t resulted in more minutes.<\/p>\n
Despite only playing 143 Premier League minutes, he\u2019s been one of Liverpool\u2019s brighter performers this season. Slot\u2019s praise after Chiesa\u2019s last-second block against Sunderland \u2014 \u201cthat\u2019s what you want from a player\u201d \u2014 only highlighted that he\u2019s being underused. Supporters believe he deserves far more faith from the manager.<\/p>\n
Harvey Elliott<\/p>\n
Harvey Elliott\u2019s Liverpool journey has hit a difficult phase. After progressing from the academy and winning two Premier League titles, he found himself marginalized under Slot.<\/p>\n
Last season, he managed just 822 minutes \u2014 with only 360 in the league \u2014 as Slot consistently picked Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, and even Curtis Jones ahead of him. Elliott wanted to fight for his place, but he was sent out on loan to Aston Villa on deadline day, and Slot admitted he\u2019s had little communication with the midfielder since.<\/p>\n
Salah may feel Slot has treated him unfairly \u2014 but he\u2019s not alone. Several Liverpool players have also been overlooked, mishandled, or undervalued as the club navigates a turbulent new era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
“I couldn\u2019t believe I sat on the bench for the entire match,\u201d Mohamed Salah said after failing to come on during Liverpool\u2019s 3-3 draw with Leeds United on December 6. \u201cIt\u2019s happened three times now. I think it\u2019s the first time in my career. I\u2019m very disappointed. I\u2019ve given so much to this club over …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":56241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/EOTK-FeaturedHero-Image-Templates-10-768x432.jpg.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56400"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56401,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56400\/revisions\/56401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/56241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplbanter.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}