ESPN pundit says he was nearly sick after he’s been reading about Mo Salah recently

Add as preferred source on Google

ESPN pundit Steve Nicol is not having what he read about Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah this week.

Salah has been in terrific form for Liverpool so far this season, already notching double figures for Premier League goals.

Now into his seventh campaign at Anfield, the Egyptian is one of the most senior players at the club. According to a report in The Athletic on Wednesday, this has led to him being brought into the Reds’ brand new ‘leadership group’ this season.

After the departures of captain and vice-captain Jordan Henderson and James Milner this summer, Jurgen Klopp has reportedly put together a new team of leaders in the dressing room. It’s claimed that along with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Andy Roberson and Salah complete the group.

However, speaking to ESPN yesterday, former Liverpool defender Nicol rubbished such talk. Rather than any slight on any individual player though, the pundit claimed that talk of any player being ‘inducted’ into such a group is ‘garbage’ and the process will instead happen naturally.

“The actual piece [from The Athletic], I was nearly sick half the time reading that,” fumed Nicol. “It was so set up for fans. ‘Oh, Mo Salah’s been brought into the leadership group.’ I mean again, absolute garbage. Absolute nonsense. It just happens, somebody will speak up and if they’re talking sense people will listen to them. If somebody speaks up and they’re talking garbage, then it’s one of them, ‘you be quiet.'”

Nicol rubbishes Salah reports

This is a hilarious reaction from Nicol, who is quite often very good value in his takes on goings on at Liverpool.

Although clearly a Reds fan, the Scotsman pulls no punches in his views on the modern game.

However, while this might have been Nicol’s experience of things during his playing career in the 1980’s, it’s fair to say that things have moved on.

Clubs now do appear to have a very defined group of leaders who convey the wishes of the players to the coaches. At Liverpool, we have continuously seen that team of senior stars reported on and updated over time.

From our point of view, that’s no bad thing. As Nicol says, of course any player will be able to speak his mind, but it’s good to have a defined set of players who are in charge of relaying that message.

Van Dijk is now obviously the head of that group, with Alexander-Arnold playing a big role, too. But is it really such a bad thing to give Salah some responsibility as well?

While the 31-year-old’s future is up in the air, it makes sense to try and keep him as involved as possible with goings on around the club. Hopefully Mo will eventually feel that he’s simply in too deep to go anywhere.

That isn’t the only reason to involve him here of course. He has shown many times to be a natural leader who’s voice carries great weight. Now captain of his country too, he’s an incredibly valuable asset for Liverpool to have in the dressing room. So, while we do enjoy Nicol’s at times over-the-top takes, we’ll have to disagree here. Sorry, Stevie.