Dejan Lovren, who was a Liverpool player from 2014 to 2020 and played for PAOK this season, was highly critical of the persecution of Mohamed Salah by the English press this season.
Mohamed Salah’s treatment this season isn’t just terrible…it’s disgusting. Liverpool have many other problems
Salah has been heavily criticized this season for his performances (just seven goals), his conflict with manager Arne Slott and his announcement that he would leave Liverpool a year before his contract expired.
Mohamed Salah shed tears during his last match against Liverpool
The 36-year-old Croatian footballer focused his criticism on a former player turned TV pundit who went after Salah to use him as a scapegoat.
“Their treatment of Mohamed Salah this season is not harsh… it’s disgusting. Why haven’t they talked about him like that in the last eight or nine years? Liverpool have many other problems,” the former Liverpool player said in WinWin.
Dejan Lovren slams ‘some commentators’ and Jamie Carragher in campaign against Mo Salah
Dejan Lovren accused: “Some commentators are doing it just to get attention, probably because they are not successful in other areas of life. So now they need to perform well.”
Carragher has said bad things about me, but he has never said them directly to me. You know, he only acts on TV and gets paid for it, so he has to act like that
Sometimes people put the spotlight on Mo Salah and then the easy thing to do is, as I said…especially Jamie Carragher, to say whatever he wants to say. I’ve always said I should tell him to his face, I should tell Mo to his face. He would never do that. Because I know he would never do that and he’s never said that to me,” he said, pointing at Carragher and saying, “I don’t take him very seriously.”
“Carragher has said bad things about me, but he’s never said it to me directly. You know, he’s just been on TV and he’s getting paid, so he has no choice but to act like that,” he said.
Dejan Lovren: “Mohamed Salah is a really good man with a great mind”
Dejan Lovren clarified that he “doesn’t care about the criticism of Salah”, admitting that he was “hurt because deep down I know who Mo is”.
“Mohamed Salah is a really good guy, a bright mind and a big heart. Honestly, I don’t understand it.”
Lovren blames Slott solely for Salah’s departure from Liverpool
Lovren insisted Mohamed Salah “definitely would have remained at Liverpool” if Slott had been sacked sooner, adding that he was largely responsible for the player’s departure this summer.
“I don’t think it’s the board’s fault[for forcing Salah to resign]. I think it’s just one person, and I think the manager,” the Croat said.
The Croatian footballer explained: “Their relationship was not very good. Let’s just say it easily. I had a very good relationship with Klopp. It wasn’t necessarily perfect, but they knew each other very well, let’s just say that. They trusted each other and liked each other. Mo gave everything on the pitch for Klopp, and Klopp returned that trust to him.”
“But (with Slott) it was quite the opposite. It’s very simple. If you look at the last eight, nine seasons, he’s been doing really well so we all know him. And last season… now people would say, ‘Oh, yeah, but Slott did well in his first year too,’ but I don’t think it’s because of him. I think he just took over the team as it was,” he recalled.
