Jamie Carragher has said that Mo Salah ‘really let himself down’ with one particular moment on the pitch this season.
The former Liverpool defender had plenty to say about the Egyptian’s outspoken comments last weekend, which he labelled a ‘disgrace’, although he was keen to stress his huge admiration for the 33-year-old in terms of his footballing talents and achievements at Anfield.
He nonetheless picked out one moment towards the closing stages of the Reds’ 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in October when he eschewed the opportunity to tee up Florian Wirtz – who’s still waiting for his first LFC goal – for a straightforward tap-in.
Carragher: Salah ‘let himself down’ in win over Eintracht
Speaking on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football, Carragher claimed that Salah’s legendary status at Liverpool is beyond question, but he has urged our number 11 to do more to ‘help’ his teammates when they’re looking for lift-off at the club.
The pundit said: “Where he really let himself down was this season was in Frankfurt, another game where there’s a guy who has signed for Liverpool who needs a goal more than anyone in Florian Wirtz.
“Instead of just being a great player for the club, be a great ambassador for the club and roll that ball to him for an easy tap-in. Then go over and give him a hug and a kiss and say, ‘You are the guy that’s going to take this Liverpool team forward’.
“I’ve seen Barnes, Rush, Gerrard at the end. Do you think they were the same players in their pomp? Of course they weren’t. Do supporters think any differently of them now? No they don’t. They say, ‘You were in the top six players to play for Liverpool’. They will say the same about Salah.
“On the pitch, the one criticism I have is help the other players. Help Wirtz and help Isak, and don’t be obessed with your own numbers.”
Salah is far from a selfish player
The incident that Carragher referenced mattered little in the overall context of a rare convincing win for Liverpool this season, but it would’ve meant the world to Wirtz to get his first goal for the club that night after his big-money summer move from Bayer Leverkusen.
That was one moment where Salah shouldn’t have gone for goal himself, but we’d firmly reject any notion that he’s a selfish player who doesn’t care about his teammates.
Think back to the phenomenal relationship that he forged with Bobby Firmino and Sadio Mane. There were times when he angered the latter (Burnley in 2019 springs to mind), but that trio wouldn’t have worked so brilliantly together if they weren’t willing to sacrifice themselves for each other.
Indeed, the Senegal star later claimed that what happened at Turf Moor six years ago actually brought the pair ‘even closer’.
Salah’s assists tally of three this season is low by his standards, but a total of 116 across 420 Liverpool appearances emphatically shows that he can be relied upon to tee up teammates to score rather than always going for personal glory.
Whatever you may think of his outburst at the weekend, the Egyptian is unquestionably an all-time Anfield great, and his legacy most certainly hasn’t been tarnished.
I think Jamie should just keep his mouth shut. He was embarrassed on his own show when slot sarcastically hinted at his 0 premier league titles.
Last night carragher said when have I ever criticised Salah on the pitch, quite a few times, only last week he said his legs had gone. Obviously carragher holds a grudge against Salah for some reason, always picking him out for blame. Yes he did wrong coming out after the Leeds game in what he said, but you can’t call him a disgrace. Over critical on one player all the time isn’t a good image for Liverpool football club. We need Salah back into the team at his best. Slot should have told him that you are out of the team for a few games until we start being better defensively. Where was the man management from slot. You can’t treat your best player like dirt. Slot gave Salah more Licence to roam up front last season with no thought of tracking back, why are people being critical of the defensive side of his game when he’s never tracked back. Salah is match winner who wins you games he’s not in the team to defend, people have short memories, take out Salah and his goals last season 29 goals and 18 assists in the premier league, we wouldn’t have won it.
It appears slot is building the team around wirtz and isak due to the astronomical transfer fees. I would not disagree that is the future but not at the expense of sacrificing performance. The slide goes much faster than climbing the ladder.