In such circumstances, Salah should have been protected, not singled out.
Football is a funny old game. All it took was a brief barren spell in front of goal for Mohamed Salah, and the English media suddenly seemed to develop amnesia about just how great he has been for Liverpool. Not only that, but his coach Arne Slot has bowed to pressure from former players turned pundits, who were all calling for Salah to be dropped from the team.
Salah has every right to feel aggrieved by the turn of events. His explosive interview in the aftermath of the 3-3 away draw with Leeds United at Elland Road had been a long time coming. This is a Liverpool side leaking goals and desperate for stability at both ends of the pitch. In such circumstances, Salah should have been protected, not singled out.
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Yet four games without a goal were enough for Slot to drop him to the bench against West Ham, a decision that appeared to spark the tension we are now seeing. What followed was another exclusion from the starting line-up against Sunderland, although this time he did emerge off the bench at half-time. His no-show against Leeds appears to have been the final trigger for the Egyptian.
He went on a strong rant, saying he had been thrown under the bus, and added that someone clearly wanted him out of the club he has served with distinction for the past eight years. Imagine, for a moment, Steven Gerrard being benched during a period when the team needed leaders on the pitch. Slot would not have escaped scrutiny. Yet with Salah, the bar seems conveniently lower.
It’s as if Slot and company were waiting for Salah’s drop in form to finally move him but this should have never been the case.
Salah deserved more time to turn his form around because this is the first occasion in eight years in which he has genuinely struggled in front of goal. 250 goals for Liverpool makes him the club’s third-highest goalscorer of all time, behind Roger Hunt (285) and Ian Rush (346) since arriving from Serie A side AS Roma in 2017.
Salah is far from naïve and clearly has a big ego, as all top players do. Big-name players like Salah, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are wired differently. That’s part of what makes them great and I think Salah is justified in feeling betrayed by the coach. It is difficult to ignore the sense that promises were made before he signed his contract extension, only for the goalposts to move once the season began.
At most clubs, a player of Salah’s stature would be shielded from external noise. At Liverpool, however, the atmosphere suggests his time may be nearing its end. With wealthy Saudi Arabian clubs circling, the possibility of the Reds cashing in seems more realistic than ever.
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The 33-year-old’s story at Liverpool deserved a more dignified chapter than this, but in football, sentiment rarely wins, especially when fractures appear behind the scenes. The signs point to a relationship that might have fractured beyond repair.
