Patrick Vieira sees Mohamed Salah’s untimely outburst as a potential stain on his Liverpool legacy, and he has told Arne Slot what he thinks should have happened with the 33-year-old a long time ago.
Salah’s comments about Liverpool’s direction and Slot’s role in a miserable season have split opinion since the Aston Villa game. Few are arguing with the substance of what he said, because the Reds have clearly fallen well short.
The debate is more about the timing, the tone and the impact on the manager. Vieira is firmly on the side of those who believe Salah’s Liverpool criticism went too far.
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Patrick Vieira is disappointed with Mohamed Salah over Liverpool drama
Salah has more credit in the bank with Liverpool supporters than almost any player in the modern era.
That is why so many fans have backed him despite the timing of his comments. But across the wider media landscape, there is a feeling that he should not have gone public.
Vieira agrees with that view.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, the Arsenal legend said: “I don’t think it’s the right time. We can understand the frustration, but this is below the belt and I’m really disappointed by that comment.
“I don’t think Liverpool Football Club deserves this kind of comment. I think he should leave and people remember what he gave to this football club because he was maybe one of the best Liverpool players in the last 30, 40 years.
“And I think that kind of message will shed a little bit of darkness on his Liverpool career, I would say.”
Outside Liverpool, Salah’s actions are being judged as unnecessary and damaging. Within the Liverpool bubble, though, the mood feels very different.
Sky Sports ran a poll during the broadcast, with 94 per cent of supporters siding with Salah over Slot.
What did you make of Salah’s explosive statement before his last game for the club?
This sounds like it was aimed at Slot…
Vieira thinks Arne Slot should have sold Salah last summer
After Salah’s numbers last season, offering him a new contract felt like the only sensible decision. He was still producing at an elite level, still Liverpool’s most important forward and still the face of the club.
Vieira, though, now thinks Liverpool waited too long.
He explains: “I think he got to a time where the best decision for him is for him to leave the club.
“And I think the manager of Liverpool Football Club should have made Salah leave last year. I think he was a year too long before him leaving and there’s a lot of frustration.”
In hindsight, there may be some truth to that.
If Liverpool had sold Salah last summer, they would have avoided this messy ending and protected both the player and the manager from the fallout. But nobody could have seen the season unfolding quite like this.
Salah’s legacy at Liverpool is still enormous. Yet Vieira is right about one thing — this is a sad and uncomfortable way for one of the club’s greatest ever players to move towards the exit.
- READ MORE: Liverpool fans need to hear Steve Nicol on Mohamed Salah’s ‘lack of class’; every word is perfect
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