Liverpool conducted an open training session ahead of a crunch Champions League encounter with PSG. Initially alarming footage appears to show Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold in some sort of altercation, although closer inspection actually speaks volumes about the team mentality.
Two of the team’s key players, Salah and Alexander-Arnold will need to be on the same wavelength for Liverpool against PSG. Both will need to put in diligent defensive shifts to contain the French side’s relentless wingers, a job they performed admirably in the Parc des Princes.
So Arne Slot may have been a little concerned when Salah gave Alexander-Arnold a shove in the chest during Liverpool training. The pair then exchanged words, with Ibrahima Konate and Curtis Jones appearing to hold Salah back.
At first glance, Alexander-Arnold looks worryingly serious. But Salah has a cheeky grin on his face, and crucially, none of their teammates look unduly concerned.
After Konate and Jones intervene, Diogo Jota simply walks past, not looking in the slightest bit peturbed. Harvey Elliott then wanders over — but the captain, Virgil van Dijk, also leaves the incident well alone, which is surely telling.
At the absolute worst, this is a training moment that has become a little heated, which just shows that these are elite players preparing with the exact same intensity and mentality they will put in at Anfield. That would be no bad thing.
For instance, Salah and Sadio Mane had a constant undercurrent to their relationship, but ended up forming one of the most feared attacks of all time alongside Roberto Firmino. Not all tension is necessarily negative.
But the more likely scenario is that the whole training incident was light-hearted in nature. This would speak volumes too, with the players clearly able to share a joke with one another ahead of one of the most high-pressure fixtures of the season.
After the way the first leg went, it would be understandable for the players to be suffering with some nerves ahead of the return encounter. Liverpool has something to defend at Anfield, but it is coming up against one of Europe’s best teams.
Yet one way or another, Liverpool’s latest training session has proved that the players are ready. Slot has inherited a team with a brilliant mentality and perhaps even strenghtened it further, so there will be no concerns on that front when PSG comes to town.
