Akin Ayomide
Liverpool great Steven Gerrard believes the club still need Mohamed Salah as he urged the star forward to “reverse away” from an extraordinary outburst where he accused the faltering Premier League champions of “throwing him under the bus”.
The Egypt international was omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy for Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan following a blistering attack on manager Arne Slot and the club hierarchy after being left on the bench for last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Salah a “disgrace” for his comments but Gerrard urged the player and management to reunite for the good of everyone at Anfield.
“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect,” former Liverpool captain Gerrard told TNT Sports.
“A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus, wrong. Need to reverse a little bit away from that, to deal with that with the manager.”
Gerrard added bust-ups between players and management were nothing new.
“I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it with (Luis) Suarez when he fell out with Brendan (Rodgers) face to face. I’ve been there and done it myself. I did the Salah statements in 30 seconds against (Manchester) United and got sent off,” he explained.
“So no one’s perfect and we’ve all had head loss as players, where we’ve done emotional things,” said Gerrard, who hoped Salah would eventually realise he had been a “bit emotional and a bit hasty”.
Salah’s remarks sparked reports that Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer in history could leave Anfield in January despite signing a lucrative new contract in April.
The 33-year-old posted a picture of himself training alone in Liverpool’s weights room on Tuesday.
Salah’s outburst has piqued interest in Saudi Arabia with a source at the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) telling AFP it will do “whatever it can” to buy him.
Gerrard, however, said: “At the end of the day, Liverpool need Mo Salah back playing well, scoring goals because he is the best player, the best scorer, and he will help them get out of this. If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
Dutch boss Slot tried to put the focus back on his side after Dominik Szoboszlai’s controversial late penalty gave the six-time European champions all three points at the San Siro by saying “the ones that are here, they deserve all the credits”.
Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home Premier League match against Brighton.
An unused substitute at Leeds, Salah told reporters at Elland Road: “I said many times before that, I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship.
“I don’t know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”
Salah made his explosive comments in the midst of a dismal season for both him and Liverpool.
He has played a key role in Liverpool’s two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph during his iconic spell on Merseyside.
But he has scored just four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season, with Liverpool 10th in the table.