The Alonso dream may be over - but Salah's outburst keeps heat on Slot

Breaking news from the world of sport: The Alonso dream may be over - but Salah's outburst keeps heat on Slot Figure caption, Aston Villa secure Champions League spot in win over LiverpoolByPhil McNulty Chief football writerPublished10 minutes agoMohamed Salah's latest unprompted public outburst will ratchet up the pressure on struggling Liverpool head coach Arne Slot by several notches. Salah first laid bare his frustrations with Slot and Liverpool after the 3-3 draw at Leeds United in December, claiming he had been "thrown under the bus" after being dropped following the Premier League champions' poor start to the season. This time the Egyptian, who is scheduled to play his final game for Liverpool against Brentford at Anfield on the closing weekend of the season, took to social media after Friday's 4-2 loss at Aston Villa to launch a thinly-veiled attack on their style under Slot and the failures this season.

Slot has been losing credit fast since winning the Premier League in his first season after succeeding Jurgen Klopp. The contrast was sharp between Unai Emery's vibrant Aston Villa - who confirmed Champions League football next season with victory at Villa Park and who are in the Europa League Final - and porous, weak Liverpool. And then came the latest twist in this troubled, turbulent Liverpool season.

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This sort of pronouncement could justifiably be seen as Salah repaying his head coach by throwing Slot under the bus, the breakdown of their relationship providing a fractious backdrop to a season in which Liverpool's title defence has disintegrated. If Salah's attack clearly does not help Slot, who has lost the faith of many Liverpool fans as the Anfield atmosphere becomes increasingly toxic, then his analysis of "us crumbling to yet another defeat this season" hardly reflects well on his own team-mates either. The sub-plot to Salah's post is that a large number of those same Liverpool supporters see Xabi Alonso as Slot's natural successor.

But the former Real Madrid manager now looks destined for Chelsea, who hope to announce the Spaniard as their new permanent head coach in the coming days. Alonso has long been touted as a future Liverpool manager, having won the Champions League as a player and then impressed hugely during his time as Bayer Leverkusen boss. Some hoped he would replace Klopp two years ago, but he instead opted to remain with Leverkusen and Slot came in instead.

It would seem again the timing just will not quite marry up for those dreaming of a fairytale return to Anfield. Liverpool must return to heavy metal football - Salah Published2 hours ago'We crumbled' - another loss, another unwanted record for leaky Liverpool Published20 hours agoSalah's intentions in making this statement are unclear, although it plays to the gallery and the growing anti-Slot lobby, making life increasingly uncomfortable for the Dutch head coach.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.