Mohamed Salah has been sent a clear message after returning to the Liverpool squad for the win over Brighton at the weekend
Alan Shearer has explained why he believes Mohamed Salah “didn’t have a choice” but to play well for Liverpool against Brighton. Salah put in an impressive cameo performance for the Reds in their 2-0 win over the Seagulls, having initially been named on the bench.
Salah was included among the substitutes for the Premier League clash at Anfield after holding talks with head coach Arne Slot, having been left out of the matchday squad for the previous fixture against Inter Milan in the Champions League.
The decision to leave Salah out of the squad was made after the Liverpool forward gave an interview where he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club.
Slot had named Salah on the bench for three consecutive matches, which prompted the outburst from the Egypt international in the now infamous interview with the media after the draw with Leeds United earlier this month.
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Shearer appeared on the latest Rest is Football podcast alongside Micah Richards and Gary Lineker, where he spoke about the noise surrounding Salah’s future at Liverpool, with the forward now expected to link up with the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Newcastle striker was quizzed on whether he thought the situation had been calmed down after Salah’s cameo against Brighton over the weekend.
“I don’t know, what I do know is that he’s going away for four or five weeks, which will, maybe, calm the situation,” said Shearer.
“There are so many different ways you could look at it, both positive and negative, but we’d only be guessing. So I don’t think we should do that.”
Richards was in agreement with Shearer, with the former Manchester City defender explaining what he noticed about Salah’s performance at Anfield.
“I think it’s nice that he’s going away now,” said Richards. “I think Slot dealt with the whole situation very well. “Even when he could have thrown Salah under the bus, he didn’t. Salah’s had an outburst, and all top players have egos.
“It was nice that he got on (vs Brighton) and the most important thing (was) he looked sharp when he went on. He should have scored.”
Shearer then chimed in by saying, “I don’t think he had a choice, by the way. He had to, didn’t he?”
Lineker then asked Shearer to clarify what he meant, which led to the former Newcastle striker saying: “He (Salah) had to come on and do well, after what he said.
“And then (being) put back in the squad, he had to run around, and he had to do well. I know he missed a chance.”
Liverpool’s next match will see them take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the Premier League, which will be their first fixtures since Salah linked up with Egypt at AFCON.
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