Curtis Jones argues with referee Felix Zwayer after being awarded a yellow card during the Champions League match between Inter and Liverpool at the San Siro(Image: Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP via Getty Images)
The Egyptian might not, at least for now, be backing the decisions of Slot, but the same cannot be said of his team-mates.
Are we behind the manager? We always are. We always are,” said Curtis Jones, one of several impressive Liverpool performers in Italy.
“He is human at the end of the day. If we get beat in games, it affects him, it affects us all too the same way it affects fans. He is a positive man, he always makes a change.
“The style of play has changed a bit. He is as hungry as ever, exactly the same with us. He is there with us and we are there with him as well.”
Recent events have shown change isn’t always painless following the explosive outburst from Salah after failing to appear in the 3-3 Premier League draw at Leeds United on Saturday having been benched for the third game in a row.
The 33-year-old – who suggested he had no relationship with Slot and had been thrown “under the bus” by the club and made a scapegoat for the Reds’ poor form this season – was subsequently left out of the trip to Milan, with question marks over whether he will play again for the champions.
More talks are expected between Slot and Salah this week ahead of the visit of Brighton on Saturday, with the winger then joining up with his national team for the Africa Cup of Nations.
But for Liverpool’s squad, results and not individual grievances are shaping the spirit in the dressing room.
“If you go and win a game it’s always the best feeling,” said Jones. “We have just won an important game against a great team.
“The mood is high. If we give away points against teams we should beat then we will always be upset, we will always question why. We went back, had a look at the game (against Leeds), made a change and come out here and won.”
And when asked if Salah’s comments had changed the atmosphere in the dressing room, the response from Jones was an unequivocal as it was blunt.
“No,” said the midfielder. “Mo is his own man. I can’t really speak on another man and his business.
“Everyone knows how much of a legend that Mo is. I can’t really speak on it. The situation that he has got, it is not for me to say.”
Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored Liverpool’s late penalty winner at San Siro, agrees.
“I’m very close with him,” said the Hungary international. “It’s nothing to do with the players.
“It’s him and his own choice with what he is doing with his own life and his own career. It’s nothing to do with the players I guess so nothing to say about it.
“Would I like him to stay? It’s not our decision as players. I love him as a human being, as a friend of mine. As a player he has done so much for this club it’s going to be the club’s and his decision.”
Notably, Liverpool have been unbeaten in all four games Salah has now failed to appear with the win at Inter, beaten in two of the last three Champions League finals, the highlight.
It dragged Liverpool’s Champions League campaign back on track after the horror show of a 4-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven a fortnight earlier that prompted Jones to declare the Reds were “in the s***”.
But he warned: “It’s only one game. Only one game. The last one (at Leeds) we were 2-0 up and we drew the game as well. There were fans there that probably thought we were still in the s***.
“But the mindframe of the team has changed. No-one can say we don’t deserve to win. It’s just about each game as we play.”
Slot opted to employ a diamond midfield on Tuesday with Alexander Isakpartnering Hugo Ekitike in attack for only the second time.
And when contemplating what he made of the tactical change, a mischievous smile crept across the lips of Jones.
“I think it works because I am playing,” laughed the 24-year-old, before offering a more considered response. “It is a way of getting all the lads in the team.
“It is obviously hard to keep everybody happy. We are in a situation where it is hard with the games we have lost. It is more about freshening things up, having a bit of a change and that’s what we havedone.”
Concentration now turns to improving Liverpool’s recent home form this weekend with the Reds having won only two of their last seven matches at Anfield.
“A big thing is the fans feed off us and we feed off them as well,” said Jones. “If we are chasing a ball down and show the real us, it helps the side.
“On the flip side, we are getting beaten and the games are dry and stale and we’re playing slow, the fans will get bored as well.
“But the stadium is always packed, the fans are always there singing the songs, so it is down to us repay them in the ways we can.”
