Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has spoken out about Mohamed Salah’s future at the club following the 33-year-old’s outburst that highlighted his souring relationship with Arne Slott.
Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has claimed he “respects” Mohamed Salah and his mindset, but believes he was wrong to claim the club “threw him under the bus” in a recent interview. The Egyptian international exploded in anger after being left off the bench for three games in a row and detailed his frustrations at the club.
There were also claims that his relationship with Arne Slott had broken down and that someone at the club wanted him to leave, with reports suggesting he could leave in January. There have been many opinions on this situation and whether it is right or wrong, with Gerrard recently voicing his opinion.
The former Liverpool midfielder told TNT Sport: “He’s obviously really upset about not being able to play. I respect that. He’s not going to leave the team, I respect that. Those few lines about dumping people under the manager are wrong. We need to reverse things a bit from there. He needs to deal with that issue with the manager.”
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“This requires manager Virgil van Dijk to say, ‘I was solving this for the fans rather than the club or the team.’ I’ve seen this, I’ve lived it. I’ve lived with (Luis) Suarez when he fought Brendan (Rodgers) to the face.
“I’ve seen it all, and I’ve been there from a personal perspective. I was sent off for making a comment against[Manchester]United when I was in my 30s. So no one is perfect. We’ve all gone crazy as players.”
“We’ve all done emotional things where we’re like, ‘Oh,’ and then over time, when everything settles down, Mo will say, ‘I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. And I’m a little emotional, a little rushed, blah, blah, blah.'”
“But at the end of the day, Liverpool Football Club needs Mo Salah to play well again and score goals, because he is the best player and the best scorer and he will help the team get out of this situation. As things stand, this is going to be bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
It comes at a time when Liverpool are struggling on the pitch, and the noise off the pitch only adds to the pressure on Slot to get results quickly. Following Salah’s comments, he was left out of the squad for Tuesday night’s game against Inter Milan, as the 19-man squad travels to Italy.
However, the Reds handled the situation well and Dominik Szoboszlai’s penalty earned them all three points in a tough visit to the San Siro. This temporarily relieves some of the pressure, but the conversation naturally returns to Salah’s future and his exclusion from the side.
The weekend will see the 33-year-old play his final match against Liverpool before joining up with the Egyptian squad for the African Cup of Nations. It remains to be seen whether this will be his last time with the Reds in his career, but he hinted it could be by claiming he had invited his family to the game against Brighton.
Gerrard suggested Virgil van Dijk might need to be involved in the situation, and that was what the defender was asked about after Tuesday night’s game. Regarding the possibility of speaking to Salah, the club captain told Amazon Prime Video: “There is also the reality that Mo is going to Africa soon. I have known him for a long time, we are good friends and we have been through good times and bad.”
“We talk, but such things naturally stay indoors. We have to brace ourselves and resist the noise outside. The most important thing is to talk to each other. We must recover and return to Brighton soon.”
“We have to celebrate the good moments and enjoy them. Otherwise, what’s the point of winning? We have to stay here overnight, sleep well and eat well. We try to never get too high or too low.”
However, Slott played down the possibility of Salah’s return in the coming days, saying on Amazon Prime Video: “Tonight is going to be all about the players who are here. They’ve had many nights like this in Liverpool’s rich history. (The performance) was everything I could have asked for.”
“I don’t think a fourth game in 10 days is a typical game with only 13 experienced outfield players. After the blow we lost 3-3 against Leeds, we gave very few chances against such a strong Inter side in this stadium. We had a great mentality in the second half and are getting better and better.”
It remains to be seen what will happen in the coming days and whether peace talks between all parties involved can result in a solution that satisfies everyone. There is still a sense of uncertainty at Anfield with the game against Brighton just around the corner, but only time will tell.
