Liverpool slipped to another miserable defeat against Aston Villa on Friday night to leave their hopes of a Champions League spot in doubt and Mo Salah has now spoken out

Mohamed Salah has called on Liverpool ‘recover their identity’ following another dismal weekend under Arne Slot.

The dethroned champions slipped to a miserable 4-2 defeat against Aston Villa to leave their Champions League spot in doubt ahead of the final game of the campaign.

The defeat leaves Liverpool fifth and just five points clear of Bournemouth ahead of their final day clash with Brentford. And Salah – who is due to leave at the end of the season – has now spoken out with a strong message to his teammates.

Writing on Instagram, the Egyptian forward said: “I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that. “Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies.

“That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it. “Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be about. All teams win games. Liverpool will always be a club that means a great deal to me and to my family. I want to see it succeed for long after I have moved on.

“As I’ve always said, qualifying to next season’s Champions League is the bare minimum and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”

Robert Lewandowski has confirmed he will leave Barcelona when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Lewandowski joined Barcelona in 2022 and has made 191 appearances in all competitions, netting 119 goals.

Across his four seasons in LaLiga, the Pole has won three LaLiga titles, including this season, as well as the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana three times.

Lewandowski has started just 15 of his 29 LaLiga appearances this season, but is still Barcelona’s second-highest scorer in the competition this season, having netted 13 goals.

“After four years full of challenges and hard work, it’s time to move on,” Lewandowski said in a video posted to Instagram.

“I leave with the feeling that the mission is complete. Four seasons, three championships.

“I will never forget the love I received from the fans from my very first days. Catalonia is my place on earth.

“Thank you to everyone I met along the way during these beautiful four years.

“A special thank you to President Laporta for giving me the chance to live the most incredible chapter of my career.

“Barca is back where it belongs.”

In each of his first three seasons at Barcelona, Lewandowski finished as the club’s top scorer and won the Golden Boot in 2022-23, netting 23 times.

His most prolific season in LaLiga was last term, when he netted 27 goals.

Lewandowski will play his final game at Camp Nou on Sunday, when Barcelona face Real Betis, while his last match for the club will come away to Valencia on May 23.

The 37-year-old’s next destination is unclear at this stage; he has been linked to clubs in the Saudi Pro League and MLS.

Manchester United are set to offer Michael Carrick the job on a permanent basis but Rene Meulensteen is not convinced that Red Devils chiefs have gone about the decision the right way

Rene Meulensteen has claimed that Manchester United have taken too long to make a decision over Michael Carrick’s future. The former midfielder was appointed on a deal until the end of the season in January.

He has impressed since then, leading the Red Devils to ten wins in 15 games to secure a Champions League spot. That form has led United chiefs to put Carrick right at the front of the queue when it comes to the permanent job and talks are expected to accelerate imminently.

But Sir Alex Ferguson’s former right-hand man, Meulensteen, believes that call should have been made a long time ago to allow planning for next season and beyond to begin. Speaking to BOYLE Sports, he said: “If you are making such an important decision about the future of the club, you should never let the emotions of winning or losing a game influence you.

“By this time, the conversation should have already been held. If I were the CEO or the person responsible for hiring or not hiring Michael Carrick, I would have already spoken with him.

“I would have said, ‘Listen, Michael, present me with the plan. How do you think you’re going to make Manchester United a title challenger next season, not in two or three years, but next year? What do we need to keep? What do we need to add? And how are you going to go about it?’ Those conversations should have already taken place.”

He added: “The one thing that counts for Michael Carrick is that he’s played for the club, he knows what it is to be in a successful environment and culture, and he knows what is expected from Manchester United.

“He carries himself well, and the players respond really well. But on the other hand, he hasn’t managed Manchester United throughout a Champions League campaign, and he hasn’t won any trophies as a manager yet. And that’s constantly the debate people will have.

“But the most important thing for the hierarchy of Manchester United, in my opinion, is to listen really carefully to the key players in that squad at this moment in time. Listen to them, listen to how they felt Michael has done over the last period that he took over. I’m sure they will all be very positive because it shows in the results and the performances.

“So, that is the way to go about it. If it goes wrong again, just because of the fact that if you were to lose or not win both of the last games, then suddenly people go, ‘Well, you know…’ It’s a bit of a catch-22, but those conversations, in my opinion, should have already been held, and that decision behind the scenes should have already been made.

“That should have been clarified to Michael: ‘Brilliant, well done. We put you in as an interim, but this is where it stops. We’re going to go for X, Y, Z.’ Or, ‘Michael, we put you in as an interim, but you’ve done a fantastic job. You’ve convinced us that you know where we want to go. We’re going to give you another year or two years.’”

Carrick will be aiming to round the season off positively over the coming weeks. The Red Devils take on Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford this weekend ahead of a final day clash with Brighton.