Mohamed Salah’s status as an all-time Liverpool legend has been rocked slightly this season after some questionable behaviour from the Egyptian.
Faced with a spell on the bench for the first time in his nine-year career with the Reds, Salah threw his toys out of the pram, publicly demanding a place back in Arne Slot’s XI and crying ‘disrespect.’
Although the 33-year-old certainly had plenty of support from Liverpool fans – he does have a huge amount of credit in the bank after all – others were annoyed by his outburst.
Unpopular opinion: Peak Sadio Mane was better than peak Mohamed Salah…
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Few were as disgruntled as former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who delivered a damning eight-minute put-down of Salah live on Sky Sports.
As part of his argument for why the No. 11 was absolutely wrong to do what he did, Carragher outlined Salah’s failures with Egypt as a reason for Salah to be more humble in his approach. And after the Pharaohs came up short in another Africa Cup of Nations on Wednesday, the Liverpool legend was proven right once again.
Mohamed Salah fails with Egypt once again
Forgive us if the tone here feels a little sharp towards one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players. But the way he spoke about the club in the bowels of Elland Road absolutely did not sit right with some of us at Rousing The Kop.
Carragher was put out too and fiercely defended the club he loves. Weeks before, the pundit had claimed that Salah only speaks to the press at times which suit him, and he was almost instantly proven right on that point with the veteran’s outburst in Leeds.
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Carragher also made the point that if Salah has no need for teammates, and is as good as he appears to believe he is, then why hasn’t he won more – or won at all – with Egypt.
“He’s the greatest player his country have ever had in Egypt,” said the 47-year-old. “Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations are the most successful nation. Mo Salah has never won the AFCON.
“That isn’t me trying to put him down as a player, but what it tells him and his agent is that it’s not about an individual. No matter how good a player you are, you need help from your teammates, your manager and fans. It’s really important he remembers that.”
Gut feeling, has Mohamed Salah played his last game for Liverpool? If yes, how do you feel about it?
Liverpool fans will still miss Carragher’s point
Although Carragher has once again shown that he really does know what he’s talking about with this kind of thing, a portion of the Liverpool fanbase will still paint him as the villain here.
The Scouser has upset a lot of people with his comments about Salah in the recent past, and some will simply disagree with whatever he says as a matter of principle.
But there is no escaping the fact that Carragher has had Salah’s number here. He has stuck to his guns, defended his club and told the forward in no uncertain terms that he is not bigger than the team.
While Salah is generally regarded as a humble player who does recognise the importance of his teammates, he does have his moments of pure unadulterated ego.
Carragher noticed that, and though he will continue to receive criticism from corners of the fanbase, he has been proven right on Salah once again.
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