Mohamed Salah’s post-Villa outburst has rocked Liverpool over the past 24 hours, with his scathing assessment of the club’s current state dividing opinion around the footballing world.
Some are not pleased with the timing from the Egyptian, especially with one game still left to play, but many are firmly behind him as patience with the Arne Slot era continues to run out.
Salah has not been at his best this season, and that cannot be ignored, but his wider point about Liverpool’s direction is bang on. Tony Cascarino is on that side of the debate, and he explained why early on Sunday.
What did you make of Salah’s explosive statement before his last game for the club?
This sounds like it was aimed at Slot…
Tony Cascarino backs Mohamed Salah after Liverpool criticism
Salah’s struggles for Liverpool this season have been widely documented. He has not been good enough by his own absurdly high standards, and there have been too many games where he has looked a long way short of the player who carried Liverpool for years.
But he still clearly feels he has the authority to speak out on where the club is heading under Slot.
Not a fringe player taking a cheap shot on the way out, but one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history looking at the current state of the team and saying it is nowhere near acceptable.
Some were shocked by the decision. Gary Neville disapproved of Salah’s choice to put his feelings out publicly, and there is an argument that the timing only adds to the tension around Anfield.
Cascarino, though, is on Salah’s side.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I agree with him, yeah. I think he’s right. Now, I’m not excusing Mo. Mo’s not played well this year, you know, but there are other reasons apart from Mo.
“Mo’s not been in the team and they’ve still played terrible, and they’ve still been battered. You know, Mo’s been left out in recent games.
“Mo hasn’t played well, but for nine years of his nearly 10 years since he’s been at Anfield, he’s been superb and carried the team. And I think Mo is not doing this on, oh well, I’ve been left out and oh, I’m now going to say what I think about Liverpool.
“He’s announced he’s leaving and he’s telling everybody, this is how Liverpool has to play, and I agree with him. All right, fair play.”
The timing was messy, but the message was fair. Liverpool have been poor, Slot is under huge pressure, and Salah has far more credit in the bank with supporters than the manager does.
What does Arne Slot have to do to win you back next season❓💭
It will be fascinating to see whether Slot starts him on the final day of the season, in what should have been a day all about celebrating a true icon leaving the club.
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