Salah’s fitness in the spotlight for new Liverpool boss Slot | Sporting News

Liverpool are hoping to hit the ground running under new manager Arne Slot, following the departure of longtime boss Jurgen Klopp.

The Dutchman has brought about some change to Liverpool’s preseason run-up, as he puts his stamp on the Merseyside club.

According to The Athletic, one player already performing at a high level under the new setup is 32-year-old Mohammed Salah, who has apparently impressed mightily, despite his increasing age past the traditionally accepted prime years.

Liverpool players had become accustomed under Klopp to running the Lactate Test, which puts players through rigorous aerobic conditioning to measuring each individual’s lactic acid levels, while running increasing distances.

That has reportedly changed under Slot, who prefers a simpler six-minute run test, asking players to get as far as they can running six minutes around a track, hoping to test not just a player’s endurance but also determine their maximum speed.

The report claims that Salah blew the new Liverpool staff away with his results, finding himself atop the leaderboard, displacing young Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg in the process. Liverpool fitness coach Conall Murtagh apparently dubbed it “phenomenal”.

New coach Slot assess Salah, Reds’ fitness

Salah’s fitness levels have never been questioned, but he has faded down the stretch of seasons before, especially towards the latter stages of more intense campaigns, such as those which include a mid-season departure for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Thus, his excellence in preseason will surely excite Reds fans hoping for him to kick on under new leadership.

Liverpool are, however, still without a number of key players in preseason, and may well be for some time. Those who progressed deep into major international tournaments this summer, including Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch of the Netherlands, Alexis Mac Allister of Argentina, Darwin Nunez of Uruguay, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez of England, and Luis Diaz of Colombia.

They will all now take an extended break before joining the club in a few weeks.

Most of those players will likely miss most or all of Liverpool’s tour of the United States, meaning they will have very little time to get acquainted under the new manager before the start of the season.