WAin Rooney once again fired indiscriminately at Mohamed Salah. The former Manchester United striker, who has always been an articulate and unfiltered person, said the Egyptian was “destroying his legacy” at Anfield after publicly unburdening himself by saying that the “red” number 11 had been “pushed under the bus” by the club and that his relationship with Arne Slott had completely broken down.
Salah, 33, has not started in three games. He didn’t even get on the field in a 3-3 draw at Leeds. And after the game he exploded. “Suddenly we are no longer relevant. It seems like the club have thrown me under the bus and are trying to put all the blame on me,” he said at Elland Road. The speech did not sit well with Rooney, who called for a stronger hand from the Dutch manager on the Wayne Rooney Show podcast. “Mr. Slott has to show his authority. Let him know that he won’t travel and what he says is unacceptable. Let him go to AFCON and calm everything down. I’m not going to let him in,” he said.
Lionel Messi and Thomas Muller share unexpected verbal exchange during MLS final
His comments were arrogant and came at a time when Liverpool needed him most.
For Rooney, the dilemma is clear. Either Salah rebuilds his bridges with his coach or his future at Liverpool ends here. “It has to be resolved now,” he insisted. He also questioned why a footballer who has scored 250 goals in 420 games since joining Anfield in 2017 would make such a rant, adding: “He’s ruining his legacy. It’s sad to see him throw everything away,” adding that he believed the Egyptian had “reacted badly to all this”. These are his numbers as a “red” player:
250 goals 113 assists Premier League wins: 2 EFL Cup: 2 Champions League: 1 FA Cup: 1 FIFA Club World Cup: 1
“Salah threw Liverpool under the bus”
Liverpool’s performance doesn’t help put out the fire. Jurgen Klopp’s side sit in ninth place, 10 points behind leaders Arsenal, having won just seven of their first 15 league games. Salah has scored four goals in 13 Premier League games, a far cry from the 29 he scored last season before signing a new contract until 2026.
Rooney also criticized the striker’s recent words, in which he said Salah “didn’t have to fight every day for his place because he’s already earned it.” “Time catches up with us all. He hasn’t been at his best this year and he has to prove that every week. If I were his teammate I would be very angry. His comments were arrogant and came at a time when Liverpool needed him the most,” he said.
In his opinion, Salah was “disrespectful to his team-mates, coaches and fans” and added: “He created a negative environment in a dressing room with a lot of new players. He will regret this.”
This is not the first time Rooney has targeted the number 11 shirt.
Rooney had already made this point just a few weeks ago, following a tough 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest at Anfield. Slott also suggested that the Egyptian should be dropped to send a message: “Salah is not helping defensively. If you’re a new signing and you see a legend not running, what kind of message does that send?”Despite just five goals this season, Salah has just had a historic season in which he was the Premier League’s top scorer, assists and player of the season. However, this does not stop British people from speaking. “They’re in a bad period, Jota’s injury is hitting them, but that’s no excuse not to fight and not put in the effort,” Rooney concluded of Liverpool, who are middling in the table with 18 points from 12 games.
Fabrizio Romano tweeted that Salah could be left out of the squad for the Italy trip and Tuesday’s game against Inter after harsh comments he made about his relationship with Arne Slott, amid growing uncertainty over his involvement in Liverpool’s next game. The club is holding internal discussions and a final decision is expected to be made today, but Slott will speak to the press to clarify the situation.
