The ECHO chats exclusively to legendary Liverpool captain Graeme Souness about Mohamed Salah’s current situation at Anfield
Legendary former Liverpool captain Graeme Souness admits he has been left “irritated and annoyed” by the Mohamed Salah outburst that has plunged his Anfield future in doubt.
But the iconic Souness still feels the third highest goalscorer in club history has more to give before he calls time on one of the most glittering careers of the modern era on Merseyside.
Salah had started 53 successive Premier League games for the Reds prior to being left on the bench for the 2-0 win at West Ham United at the end of November. The Egyptian was then a second-half sub in the 1-1 draw against Sunderland days later before sitting out the following fixture at Leeds United, where Arne Slot’s men were held 3-3.
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After that game at Elland Road, Salah launched a remarkable broadside where he accused the club of being “thrown under the bus” while also claiming his relationship with head coach Slot had broken down on the back of his demotion to the bench.
Souness, who made 359 appearances and won five league titles and three European Cups during a seven-year career on Merseyside, criticised Salah for his explosive interview at Leeds but insisted there is a way back for the Egypt captain.
“One hundred percent (Salah was throwing his toys out the pram) – he made it all about him,” Souness tells the ECHO. “Of course, he’s not the only reason they’ve not been winning games, but if you look at it, he’s been such a great player for that football club.
“How many games has he decided by a bit of his genius, creating something or scoring a goal himself? Lots of tight games in the past.
“He just needs to look in the mirror more – his numbers are nowhere near where they were last year and we’re nearly at Christmas. He is part of the problem. The manager has said he feels that when you don’t have the ball, Mo’s not the best and he’s never been the best.
“But he compensated for that by doing the hardest thing, which is creation and scoring goals. He was a master at that, but he’s not been this year. I just think it’s an obvious route the manager has taken.
“Mo Salah needs to have a look at himself in the mirror first and foremost. The manager oversaw a team that wasn’t winning football matches, and Salah wasn’t contributing.
“Mo goes down in history as a great for Liverpool. He gets in the all-time best team for me if you’re picking 11 players, but that’s in the past. When I saw his comments, it irritated and annoyed me in equal amounts.
“It was all about what he had done for the club and how he didn’t have to turn up every day and fight for his place in training. Oh yes, you do. It’s not what you’ve done for a football club, it’s what you’re going to do tomorrow. It’s a bit like in any workplace – you get nothing for yesterday, it’s all about tomorrow.”
Souness, who was speaking to the ECHO via SkyBetadded: “When you’re a group of players, you’ve got 20, 25 guys – you don’t all love each other, but when it comes to match day, you’re certainly all in the same boat rowing in the same direction.
“What you find at football clubs when you’re winning every week is everyone’s a big personality, everyone’s a winner, everyone’s got a strong personality. You only find out what you’ve got in the dressing room when things start to go pear-shaped.“It’s great that they’re all singing off the same hymn sheet, but the way to prove that is on match day. You turn up, you give your all, and if you’re a good group of players you win more games than you lose. They’ve been short in certain areas so far this year and they’ve got to get back to where they were last year.”After being left out of the squad that flew to Inter in the Champions League as a result of his interview at Leeds, Salah and Slot held clear-the-air talks last Friday before the visit of Brighton & Hove Albion, and the No.11 returned to the fold as a first-half substitute in the 2-0 victory. “I don’t believe for a minute that the manager has lost the dressing room or there’s any sort of revolt within there, because he’s acted how I would’ve acted and how any manager would,” Souness says.
“You must become difficult to beat going through a difficult period, conceding goals, losing games. The first thing you must do is make yourself difficult to play against. That’s what he’s tried to do by leaving Mo out.“No, I don’t think we’ve seen Salah play in a Liverpool shirt for the final time. He’ll come back from the African Nations Cup, but I don’t think they’ve moved any further forward with it. If you’re trying to read between the lines, they had a chat, but nothing was resolved. It’s quite simple to work out.”
