Former Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has been discussing what Mohamed Salah needs to do now at Liverpool
Mohamed Salah has been told he needs to apologise for his outburst and take a leaf out of fellow Liverpool legend Sir Kenny Dalglish’s book. That’s the view of former Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland manager Gordon Strachan.
Salah could be set to talks with Arne Slot today (Friday) after he claimed he no longer had a relationship with the Liverpool head coach after he was named on the substitutes bench for the third game running.
The third highest goalscorer in Reds history was left unused in the last of those matches, the 3-3 draw with Leeds United, and afterwards he gave a fiery interview in the Elland Road mixed zone to journalists including the ECHO’s Paul Gorst, in which he claimed he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ by the club where has won every major trophy there is to win in the past nine years.
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It remains to be seen whether Salah will feature against Brighton & Hove Albion at Anfield on Saturday before he meets up with his Egypt international team-mates for the Africa Cup of Nations after being omitted from the squad that beat Inter 1-0 at the San Siro in the Champions League on Tuesday.
And Strachan, a midfield dynamo in his playing days with Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds United, believes the 33-year-old simply has to say sorry.
He said: “Over the years he’s given us wonderful football. He seems to be a humble guy, who gets on with doing his job. After that outburst, I hope he wakes up this morning and goes, ‘What have I done?’
“I hope he just apologises to everyone. We all have moments of craziness that can perplex the rest of the world, or surprise people around us.
“I hope he’s thinking about how long he’s been at the club, how he’s been looked after, worked with so many great people and played with so many great players.
“I hope he realises that being at Liverpool made him a great player, because you don’t become a great on your own. You need a team.
“He’s been given time and respect by everybody at Liverpool, and to blow that up in a moment, maybe a mini-breakdown in an instant of disappointment, it would tarnish a great legacy.
“I was watching a Kenny Dalglish documentary at the weekend, and what came across is that Kenny is all about looking after your team-mates. Mo needs to keep that in mind.
“This was a kind of out-of-body experience. He’s not been singled out, almost every one of those players under Arne Slot this year have been dropped. So don’t tell me you think that doesn’t apply to you.
“He’s made some bold, but vague statements. I think he has to make it clear what he means. Either be clear or don’t say anything, don’t leave it for people to guess.”
The ECHO understands the decision to remove Salah from the squad that travelled to Italy on Monday was taken by the club in consultation and with the full support of Slot.
The draw at Leeds had increased the pressure on the Dutchman, who after leading Liverpool to the Premier League title in his first season in charge, has endured a troubled second season that, before the excellent victory at Inter, had seen his side win just four of their previous 15 games in all competitions.
And Strachan, who played alongside Dalglish for Scotland, continued: “In a way, I think that Mo Salah’s statement has made Arne Slot’s position stronger. Because when you’re under pressure like that, and something like this happens, Slot will say he’s got to stay here now and show everyone what he can do. And the board at Liverpool now can’t be seen to question the manager after Salah’s outburst, that’s for sure.
“That would look weak, and I think over the years the Liverpool board have generally made good decisions about backing their manager. I would think he’s earned the right to stay a lot longer.
“I also think that changing the manager now wouldn’t really alter much. There are a few players who are underperforming and it just seems to be one season too many for a few of them.
“It’s the beauty of management. We’ve all done it as managers, all owners too, they’ve given it one too many seasons.
“In the summer, everyone was saying to give Slot everything he wants, give him all the money he wants. You can’t do that. I think perhaps he should have got rid of more players in the summer.”
Saudi Pro League chief executive Omar Mugharbel has confirmed that Salah, who like captain and fellow modern-day legend Virgil van Dijk signed a new two-year contract at the end of last season, is a transfer target.
But while the forward may not play for Liverpool again before the January window opens, the focus now is on whether he can settle his dispute with Slot and the club.
“I’ve experienced it as a manager a couple of times, but back then you could have those arguments face to face,” said Strachan to BestBettingSites. “It was never an interview in the press that blew up.
“You’d have a raging argument with a player, especially if you left him not. I’ve done that, but that was before social media, so it never really got out what had happened, so you were well covered.
“As for me as a player, I never had an argument with a manager for leaving me out. But I was never like Mo Salah – he’s never been left out much at all. We also have to wonder whose fault it is. Is it Mo Salah’s?
“I think in the euphoria of the league win, we all thought he was just going to go on and on, still scoring goals. He was scoring goals last season when they won the league, but did he have the same influence on the side as when he was alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino? He seemed to be a bigger presence back then. Now, he’s purely numbers. Incredible numbers of course.
“I wonder if that was the best it was going to get, and perhaps that was the time to move on. The same with Virgil van Dijk. I thought it might be best just to move on, because that was as good as it was going to get.
“I think I could only see a wee bit of disappointment for these two guys after their new contracts, because decline was almost inevitable at some point.
“Especially for Salah, when they sign forwards like (Alexander) Isak, (Hugo) Ekitike and (Florian) Wirtz. They were always going to have to make room for them.
“You have to wrap this thing up one way or another. Maybe he wakes up and apologises to the club and his team-mates. People would move on and accept that apology. Then his legacy will be protected.”
