Arne Slot has discussed the dropping of Mohamed Salah and why Dominik Szoboszlai is not the long-term answer on the right wing for Liverpool
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool on the substitutes' bench during the Premier League match at West Ham United on November 30 2025
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool on the substitutes' bench during the Premier League match at West Ham United on November 30 2025
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Arne Slot admits it is "not nice" seeing Mohamed Salah on the bench as he pointed to Liverpool's long-term plan on the right wing. Salah was on Sunday named substitute for the first time in the Premier League since April 2024 and remained unused as the Reds eased to a 2-0 win at West Ham United.
Liverpool boss Slot wielded the axe after the Egyptian was among several players who struggled for top form during a run of nine defeats in 12 games that saw the champions tumble down the table.
The 33-year-old, who has long cemented his reputation as one of the greatest players in the Reds' history, is heading into the final 18 months of his contract with speculation already growing over the club's succession plan.
And of Salah being benched, Slot said: "It is not a nice thing for you, not for a Liverpool fan and not for me, a player that has been so important for us – you want to see him on the pitch.
"I prefer to see Mo on the pitch, scoring his goals and doing something special, rather than the camera being on him when he isn’t in the game.
"He has been so important for us, for so many years, and he will be important for us in the coming days – because it is days as he goes to the AFCON."
Salah will leave the Liverpool squad on December 15 to link up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations, and could miss up to eight games as a consequence.
The Reds have four matches before then, starting with Wednesday's Premier League visit of Sunderland. And Slot has praised the response of Salah to being dropped as he strives to regain his starting role for the clash against the high-flying Black Cats.
"The reaction of every player in this group, no matter whether he's playing or not playing, is to bring the best out of yourself every single day you are in this building and when we are playing," he said.
"That's exactly the attitude he showed on Sunday and Monday as well. He was good in training, as were all the others."
Dominik Szoboszlai deputised for Salah on the right flank at the weekend, but Slot does not view the Hungarian as a long-term option on the flank and instead wants a dedicated winger - hinting at the future make-up of the Liverpool attack.
"I don't see Dominik as a right-winger for the long-term future in this club," he said. "Dominik is a midfielder who could help us out as a full-back or as a winger if needed. But he's more of a midfielder than he is a full-back or winger.
"I don't expect to be in February and March and every single game Dominik is playing there.
"A thing that was important for me to do is that in some other games we were going more man-to-man than in this game (against West Ham), so the last line of four could stay more in place. Dominik as we all know runs for two, and that was helpful in that game.
"(But) in the long-term future, we should have wingers playing as wingers, midfielders playing as midfielders and defenders playing as defenders."