{"id":574268,"date":"2026-05-09T06:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574268\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T06:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T06:21:12","slug":"arne-slot-responds-to-mohamed-salah-and-virgil-van-dijks-comments-on-liverpool-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/574268\/","title":{"rendered":"Arne Slot responds to Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk’s comments on Liverpool standards"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Liverpool head coach delivered a blunt response to question about a perceived drop in standards, and Mohamed Salah’s cryptic comments from a recent interview\"MANCHESTER,<\/p>\n

Arne Slot has rejected claims Liverpool’s standards have been allowed to decline(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Arne Slot has rejected suggestions that standards could drop at Liverpool following the exits of key personnel this summer, and said the club does not need to target reinforcements in the transfer window.<\/p>\n

The Reds are set to lose stalwarts Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson at the end of the season, while Alisson may still depart amid interest from Juventus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of his farewell interviews, Salah reflected on how the \u201cbond of the team is changing\u201d and expressed \u201cconcern\u201d that standards may not be upheld<\/a> in his absence. Virgil van Dijk last week also claimed \u201ca lot of work\u201d is needed behind the scenes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Virgil van Dijk lays down law to Liverpool teammates after ‘unacceptable’ season<\/a>READ MORE: Dominik Szoboszlai shares Liverpool locker room stance on Arne Slot being fired<\/a><\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s players were also criticized for enjoying a leisurely keepy-up game in the Old Trafford tunnel last week, but Slot has defended the standards in the dressing room ahead of Saturday\u2019s game against Chelsea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes Virgil mean the same as what Mo is saying? And what Mo is saying is that standards are really important for a football club,\u201d the Liverpool boss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot agree more with him. I did not hear him say that the standards are not okay now. Did you?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not worried about it, let’s put it that way. I\u2019m not worried that the standards will be lower next season than they were this season, or the season before, or the season before. No. I\u2019m not worried about it at all.<\/p>\n

\"LIVERPOOL,<\/p>\n

Salah said last week that he was worried about Liverpool’s standards dropping after his exit(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standards are not only important in the gym,\u201d he added, on where standards must be met. \u201cIt\u2019s also on the pitch. Okay. You understand me? Without me saying anything?<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I was able to say what I feel at this moment but I can\u2019t. So, how will I answer that question then?<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I said, I completely agree with him [Salah] how important these standards are. I think they [standards] are in a good place at the moment.<\/p>\n

“I think it also makes sense that younger players \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to be the new players, it can be the seven-year-old that comes from the academy \u2013 they usually get the example of players like Mo and others for them to understand and to know what it takes to play every three days at this level.<\/p>\n

\"Arne<\/p>\n

Slot was not pleased with Salah’s recent comments(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that our younger players have improved in this already. I am completely convinced that we have enough players next season \u2013 and, add to that, the ones that we will sign \u2013 to put the standards exactly into the place they are needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that we need to sign them,\u201d Slot <\/a>continued, in a passionate response from the Dutchman. “I think we have them already.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd this [setting standards] is what Mo did when he was 26. I don\u2019t think it comes down to ages that only 32 or 33-year-old players can set standards. They have lived it and experienced it and know what it takes to play at this level.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut come on, we are not talking about Florian Wirtz or Hugo Ekitike or Alexander Isak and all these players we signed. They are not children, these are serious professionals that now know what it takes to play in the Premier League and Champions League at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Liverpool head coach delivered a blunt response to question about a perceived drop in standards, and Mohamed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1969,59,134,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-574268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-arne-slot","tag-gb","tag-liverpool-fc","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}