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After the 1-0 win over Internazionale, some sources present noted how there was a bit more vigour to the Liverpool hierarchy as they congratulated Arne Slot at the San Siro. The Dutch coach’s entire managerial personality is built on maintaining the same composure regardless of what is happening around him, but even he showed a few signs of relief. How could he not? A lot of crises at Liverpool have been averted – or at least eased.
Some of the sting has been taken out of the Mohamed Salah situation, just before questions inevitably rise again over whether he will play against Brighton. That makes it all the more important that Slot has now gone four games without defeat – even if the nature of the 3-3 at Leeds United didn’t make it feel like that.
Good results help mitigate bad feeling, which in turn dilutes the potential for “civil war” around the club. You could already sense division forming after Salah’s comments, and it’s hard not to think the forward wouldn’t have been at least aware of that.
Slot has borne the brunt of a lot of supporter criticism so far, and Salah’s remarks laid the ground for sides to be taken: him or the manager, even if the club was always siding with the coach… but that was also because it wasn’t simply between player and manager. There was also the potential for sides to be taken on the football hierarchy, especially Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes.
You could understand them feeling some relief, too, especially as every good result lessens the prospect of eventually having to make a big decision on Slot.
Even that relief is a far cry from 1 September, when Edwards and Hughes must have enjoyed considerable satisfaction with how the transfer window had gone.
Or, as one source quipped, it must have felt like the end of The Godfather – they’d claimed every victory.
While any mention of the summer of 2025 now warrants acknowledgement of the passing of Diogo Jota, and how that emotionally colours everything else at Liverpool, we are of course talking here in purely business terms.
There were just a succession of victories then.
For a start, the first big decision – the choice of coach amid a difficult transition – worked brilliantly as they became Premier League champions. This was then followed by the renewals of Virgil van Dijk and Salah. All of their major transfer targets were subsequently secured, with the added bonus of beating major rivals along the way. Everyone tried to sign Florian Wirtz, but especially Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Alexander Isak was the most wanted forward in the world, but he himself only wanted Liverpool, as Newcastle United were also denied Hugo Ekitike.
Yes, the Liverpool leadership doubtless felt a lot of satisfaction in that first week of September.
Except now it’s as if almost all of those decisions have backfired. If you’re drawing Godfather parallels, it’s more like the divisive third film – an expensive mess largely built on legacy, full of ill-fitting parts.
And a number of people in football are now wondering whether there should be more scrutiny on Edwards and the football hierarchy.
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