Mohamed Salah has finally made an impactful contribution this season, but regrettably for Liverpool and their beleaguered coach Arne Slot, the 33-year-old drew attention more for his comments off the pitch than for his play on it.
No elite player likes to admit it, but when they generate more headlines with their words than their performances, it signals a decline in their footballing ability and their struggle to adjust to no longer being the focal point.
Salah’s remarks during his post-match interview — after being an unused substitute in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw against Leeds United on Saturday — were as headline-making as any of the 250 goals he has tallied for the club since joining from AS Roma in 2017. However, they also came off as self-serving and not in the spirit of team solidarity.
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Ronaldo claimed he “felt betrayed” by United and expressed a fractured relationship with then-manager Erik ten Hag. Salah seemed to echo this sentiment during his outburst at Elland Road, and his comments could lead to a similar conclusion as Ronaldo’s: a hasty transition to the Saudi Pro League and a tarnished legacy at the club where he once thrived.
Salah has been benched for three consecutive matches by Slot, and the Egyptian international made it clear he is feeling the impact of his reduced role.
However, Salah’s performances this season have fallen short of expectations — just five goals in 19 games — suggesting Slot had granted him ample time to regain form before making the bold choice to sideline the star player.
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Michallik criticizes Liverpool for ‘absolutely criminal’ defending in the Leeds draw
ESPN’s Janusz Michallik asserts that Liverpool’s poor defending played a pivotal role in their 3-3 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road.
Slot has faced challenges in finding a winning combination this season and is currently grappling to secure his position, just six months after leading Liverpool to the Premier League title. He has even dropped high-profile summer signings Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Hugo Ekitike in a bid to boost his attacking front. However, those adjustments have not resulted in success.
Salah is now experiencing a similar fate, and he seems unwilling to accept it. During his interview at Leeds, he suggested that he believes his previous performances should have insulated him from losing his spot in the lineup.
“I am not fighting for my position every day because I have earned it,” Salah stated. “I am not bigger than the club or anything else, but I have earned that status.”
Perhaps Salah is alluding to the Liverpool saying that “form is temporary, but class is permanent.” While it certainly makes for a catchy phrase, it doesn’t entirely hold up in practice.
The best teams expect both form and talent, and Salah’s form has been lacking — not only this season but also during the last months of the previous season. This dip meant a change was necessary. Salah scored just four goals in his last 14 games for Liverpool last term, leading to a total of nine goals across his past 33 match appearances for the club since late February.
Moreover, it’s not solely the decline in Salah’s goal-scoring that has led to his exclusion from the lineup. While his defensive efforts have never been his strong suit, he historically complemented the work rate of former teammates Luis Díaz, Darwin Núñez, and the late Diogo Jota, who compensated for his often lackluster defensive work.
However, Isak and Wirtz have yet to provide similar defensive contributions, making Salah’s shortcomings in that regard increasingly apparent and detrimental to the team. Goals conceded in losses to Nottingham Forest and Chelsea directly stemmed from his failure to defend effectively.
This situation mirrors Ronaldo’s time at United. When the goals stopped coming, he became more of a liability than an asset.
While Salah hasn’t reached that point yet in Slot’s lineup, his remarks at Leeds have the potential to be as harmful as a lack of effort on the field. His comments are essentially a challenge to the Liverpool board to choose between him and Slot. However, it would be quite the surprising move for the club to side with a fading star earning a significant salary, approaching 34, over a manager who recently delivered a Premier League title.
The equation is straightforward: if Salah had been performing anywhere near his peak this season, he wouldn’t have been benched. Yet that reality appears to be lost on him.
Salah has overplayed his hand. His historic achievements have solidified his legend at Liverpool, but his recent performance has entitled him to be treated like any other player.
In the end, the only one truly throwing Salah under the bus is Salah himself.