Wayne Rooney has once again criticized Mohamed Salah, claiming the Liverpool star does not provide enough support to Conor Bradley against opposition attacks. The Reds suffered a 3-0 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon, their fifth defeat of the Premier League season.
Liverpool have suffered four consecutive away defeats for the first time in 13 years and have scored 17 goals in 11 league games. Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez put City ahead 2-0 before half-time, and the extraordinary Jeremy Doku added a third just after the hour mark.
As Bradley was brought back to reality after his impressive performance against Real Madrid, the Belgian winger delivered his best performance in a City shirt.
However, Rooney insisted in the overlap that Salah needed to contribute more defensively to help his teammates, urging Virgil van Dijk to take control of the situation.
“But for it to be difficult to win, all players need to work,” he said. “I think the team has targeted the right side this season. Salah hasn’t been running that much…
“I know he hasn’t always done that, but I think there’s a clear concern for Liverpool that he’s not coming back. They don’t have the consistency of a right-back to play every game – have they played three right-backs this season?”
“I think teams are looking to go down the right flank. City did that. I felt sorry for (Conor) Bradley yesterday. He needed help. (Ryan) Gravenbirch is doing everything he can to help him with his crosses, but it creates space in the middle.”
“Salah, in fact, last season at City was probably the hardest season I’ve ever seen. He came back and defended, but yesterday he didn’t defend.
“There are big gaps and holes that seem to be opening up. If the manager doesn’t show authority on that then Salah has to take responsibility.[He]Van Dijk should say to Salah, ‘He should come back.’
Rooney has recently criticized Salah again. After Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at Brentford last month, the former Everton player expressed concern about Van Dijk and Salah’s body language.
“None of us saw this coming. It hit them quickly and hit them hard and I think they’re struggling to find a way out of it,” he said.
“This is a time when managers and team leaders need to make decisions quickly. Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they have signed new contracts, but I don’t think they have really led the team this season.”
“I think you can tell a lot from body language, and I think their body language is a little bit different. They’re the top two players on the team, and if their body language isn’t right, it’s going to affect everyone else.”
“I could be wrong on this, but if I were a Liverpool fan or manager, that would be a big concern for me.”
