Mohamed Salah was singled out for criticism by Liverpool legend Graeme Souness, who found his performances this season both worrying and unacceptable.
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has become the latest pundit to slam Mohamed Salah for not featuring for the Reds this season.
Liverpool are in crisis in the Premier League, with a heavy 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday dropping them to 12th place, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal. The Reds’ title defense almost came to an end after just 12 games, after losing six of seven league games. This is the same number of losses they have had in their last 58 games. Manager Arne Slott is under increasing pressure to take responsibility for the current poor performance and turn things around.
But while Slott insists his poor form is his fault, Souness sees it differently. He believes the onus is on the players to perform on the pitch and singled out Salah in particular for criticism after another anonymous performance against Forest.
“My responsibility would be to the players at the moment,” Souness told talkSPORT. “He (Slot) will use the same language, use the same tactics, train the same, rest the same, travel the same. He’ll be doing all of that, scratching his head and staying up at night. I put that firmly at the feet of the players.”
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He added: “Don’t think about the new players. What happened to the players who won the league last time? They’re the same players… I’m not absolving the manager of his responsibility, but he had very good players last year and people paid a lot of praise to them, and rightfully so…”
The former Liverpool captain and manager was then asked if Salah needed to get better. “Oh my god! How long has it been? He was an absolute superstar. That’s the best thing I can say about Salah. He’s been the go-to guy for the last seven years. If you were to pick Liverpool’s all-time XI, he’d be one of the first names on the team sheet. That’s the best thing about Salah.”
“But I think it’s his brother who has emerged this season. We saw what happened in the Community Shield. I’m looking for little signals. He had his back to the sideline and the ball was played towards the Crystal Palace left-back. He’s not going to get it and he’s not the most physical type, but at least he could go and make it difficult for the full-backs. He wasn’t going to take that challenge.”
“He’s never been the bravest guy. You never get hurt 50-50 and you don’t want him to because he’s a top-end genius. But he’s showing a lack of appetite. Unfortunately, sometimes tough words are the kindest words and I think he needs some tough words. Ultimately that will make him a superstar again at Liverpool. He hasn’t been featured this season.”
After posting his best attacking return in 2024/25 with 34 goals and 23 assists in 52 games to help Liverpool win the title, Salah has only made 5 goals and 3 assists in 17 appearances this season. Wayne Rooney made a similar point about Souness on Monday, calling for the Egypt star to be removed from the slot.
He said on the Wayne Rooney Show: “Salah is not helping them defensively. If you’re one of the players they signed and you’re sitting on the bench and you see him not running…”
“I understand that he is a legend at the club and everything he has done for the club, but if you are on the bench, what message does it send to you that your team-mates are not running away? He starts every game. If I were Arne Slott, I would try to make big decisions that affect the rest of the team.”
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