Mohamed Salah claimed Liverpool threw him ‘under the bus’ after being benched for a third consecutive game, with Steven Gerrard weighing in to say the Egyptian was wrong
Steven Gerrard, the former Liverpool skipper, has voiced his “respect” for Mohamed Salah’s mentality but criticised the Egyptian star for claiming the club had thrown him “under the bus” in a recent interview. Salah’s outburst followed his third consecutive match on the bench, during which he aired his grievances with the club.
Rumours of a rift with Arne Slot, feelings that someone at the club wanted him out, and hints at a possible January departure have all been part of the narrative. Opinions are divided on whether Salah was right or wrong, with Gerrard being the latest to weigh in.
Speaking on TNT Sports, the ex-Liverpool midfielder said: “He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect. He won’t sit out the team, I respect.
“A couple of lines about throwing people under the boss, wrong. Need to reverse a little bit away from that; he needs to deal with that with the manager.
“This needs Virgil van Dijk to go ‘I was sorting this out for the benefit of, not even so much the club or the team. It’s the fans’. I’ve seen this, and I’ve lived it. I’ve lived it with [Luis] Suarez when he fell out with Brendan [Rodgers] face-to-face.
“I’ve seen it all and I’ve been there myself from a personal point of view. I’ve done the Salah statements in my 30s against [Manchester] United and got sent off. So no one is perfect. We’ve all had head loss as players.
“We’ve all done emotional things where we think ‘oh’ and I know in time when this all calms, Mo will go ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I maybe shouldn’t have said that and I was a bit emotional and I was a bit hasty’ and blah blah blah.
“But at the end of the day, Liverpool Football Club need Mo Salah back playing well, back scoring goals because he is the best player, the best scorer and he will help them get out of this. If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
This comes as Liverpool are grappling with challenges on the pitch, with off-field distractions adding more pressure on Slot to deliver results quickly.
Salah was excluded from the squad for Tuesday night’s match against Inter Milan following his remarks, with a reduced 19-player team heading to Italy.
However, the Reds handled the situation admirably, securing all three points in a challenging visit to the San Siro thanks to a penalty by Dominik Szoboszlai.
This provides temporary relief from the pressure, but the conversation inevitably circles back to Salah’s future and his omission from the team.