In the midst of every storm, there is usually someone who keeps their head while all around them are losing theirs. At Anfield over the past fortnight, that person has been Arne Slot. While the football world convulsed with hot takes and manufactured outrage over Mohamed Salah's explosive interview, the Dutch manager simply got on with the business of winning football matches.
The circus that consumed itself
What began as a dispute between player and club soon mutated into something far more absurd. Jamie Carragher, never one to resist the gravitational pull of controversy, described Salah's intervention as "a disgrace" and "choreographed". Rio Ferdinand, sensing an opportunity to defend his punditry brand, waded in on the Egyptian's behalf. Before long, the actual football had become almost incidental to the soap opera unfolding in television studios across the land.
It was, in many ways, the perfect distraction. While Carragher and Ferdinand engaged in their eternal battle for relevance – a conflict that has less to do with football analysis than with competing visions of what it means to be a retired footballer with a television contract – Liverpool quietly won two consecutive matches without conceding a goal.
The Inter Milan victory in the Champions League, achieved without Salah in the squad, silenced those who had suggested the team could not function without their Egyptian talisman. The Brighton triumph on Saturday, with Salah restored to the bench and then introduced to a standing ovation, demonstrated that reconciliation was possible when handled by adults.
Slot's masterclass in crisis management
Consider what Slot inherited when Salah gave that interview. A star player publicly accusing the club of throwing him "under the bus". A fanbase divided between those who sided with their hero and those who felt his timing was unforgivable. A media hungry for blood, for escalation, for the kind of drama that drives clicks and fills airtime.
The Dutch manager could have responded in kind. He could have briefed against Salah, made pointed comments about professionalism, allowed the situation to fester until one or the other was forced out. Instead, he chose the path of quiet authority.
The decision to exclude Salah from the Inter squad was made collectively, with the club's backing. It sent a message without requiring words: standards exist, and they apply to everyone. But it was followed by a conversation – a genuine dialogue between manager and player – that opened the door to reconciliation.
"The next time I speak about Mo, it will be in his presence," Slot said before the Brighton match. It was a simple statement, but it carried weight. No leaks, no briefings, no playing to the gallery. Just a manager doing his job with the minimum of fuss.
The record that changed everything
When Salah entered the pitch against Brighton, the Anfield crowd rose as one. Whatever resentments existed, whatever wounds remained unhealed, the supporters made their feelings clear. This was their king, and they would not abandon him over one interview, however ill-timed.
Within minutes, Salah had provided the assist for Hugo Ekitike's second goal – a corner delivered with the precision that has defined his Liverpool career. It was his 89th Premier League assist for the club, taking his total of direct goal contributions to 277. One more than Wayne Rooney managed in thirteen years at Manchester United.
The record books do not care about dressing room politics. They record only the facts: Mohamed Salah now stands alone as the player with the most goal contributions for a single club in Premier League history. Whatever happens next – whether he stays or goes, whether the wounds heal or leave permanent scars – that achievement cannot be taken from him.
Carragher's broadside backfires
While Slot was navigating this delicate situation with something approaching grace, Jamie Carragher was doing what he does best: generating heat rather than light. His initial broadside against Salah – calling the interview "premeditated" and accusing the player of waiting for a bad result to maximise damage – may have contained elements of truth, but it also fed the beast that threatened to consume Liverpool's season.
Ferdinand's response, positioning himself as a defender of player rights against the establishment, was equally predictable. These are men who have carved out second careers from conflict, who understand that measured takes do not generate headlines or social media engagement. Their feud became the story, which in a strange way served Liverpool's interests perfectly.
Every minute spent debating whether Carragher was right to criticise Salah, or whether Ferdinand had a point about the club's treatment of its star player, was a minute not spent scrutinising Slot's tactical decisions or questioning whether Liverpool could recover from their poor start. The circus consumed itself, leaving the club to focus on what actually matters.
Five games unbeaten and counting
The numbers tell their own story. Liverpool have now won two consecutive matches for only the second time since their early-season run. They have kept clean sheets against Inter Milan and Brighton, with Ibrahima Konaté finally showing the form that made him such an exciting prospect. Hugo Ekitike continues to score goals – only Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago have more in all competitions among players in their first Premier League season.
Florian Wirtz, the £133 million man from Leverkusen, is beginning to find his rhythm. Curtis Jones leads by example in midfield. Even Milos Kerkez looks competent at left-back, which given his early struggles represents genuine progress.
None of this would have been possible if Slot had allowed the Salah situation to spiral. A lesser manager might have dug in, insisted on his authority, turned a difficult situation into an impossible one. Instead, the Dutchman found a path through the chaos that left both parties able to claim victory.
The adult in the room
As Salah prepares to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt, there is cautious optimism around Anfield for the first time in weeks. The crisis has not been resolved – questions about the Egyptian's future remain unanswered, and the underlying tensions that prompted his outburst have not disappeared. But the immediate threat has been neutralised.
Slot deserves enormous credit for that. While Carragher shouted from the television studios, the Liverpool manager whispered. While others sought to escalate, he de-escalated. While others fed the news cycle with quotes and counter-quotes, he simply won football matches and let the results speak for themselves.
Football clubs are complex organisms, filled with egos and competing interests and the kind of pressures that can turn minor disagreements into full-blown wars. Navigating those pressures requires a particular kind of intelligence – emotional as much as tactical, diplomatic as much as strategic. Arne Slot has demonstrated, over these past two weeks, that he possesses it in abundance.
The Salah saga will have further chapters. Of that, we can be certain. But for now, Liverpool have emerged from the storm stronger than they entered it, and their manager has established himself as precisely what he claimed to be: the only adult in the room.
