Steven Gerrard gave a cogent and balanced opinion on the fallout from Mo Salah’s incendiary public comments last weekend.
Having began on the substitutes’ bench for the third game in a row as Liverpool drew at Leeds (in which he didn’t feature at all), the Egyptian proclaimed that his relationship with Arne Slot had broken down and that certain people at the club have ‘thrown me under the bus’ (Sky Sports).
The 33-year-old was duly omitted from the Reds squad for their 1-0 victory away to Inter Milan on Tuesday night, which stretched their unbeaten run to four matches, their longest such sequence since beginning the campaign with seven straight victories.
Gerrard: Salah was ‘wrong’ but Liverpool still need him
Speaking to TNT Sports, Gerrard admonished Salah for going public with his comments about Slot and the club, but he thinks the winger will hold his hands up to the wrongdoing in time and hopes that player and Liverpool can reconcile for their mutual benefit.
Our former captain said: “He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect. He won’t sit out the team, I respect. A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus, wrong. He needs to reverse a bit away from that. He needs to deal with that with the manager.”
The 45-year-old added: “No-one’s perfect; we’ve all had head loss as players. We’ve all done emotional things where we think ‘Oh…’, and I know in time when this all calms, Mo will go, ‘I shouldn’t have said that. I was a bit emotional and hasty.
“At the end of the day, Liverpool Football Club need Mo Salah back playing well and scoring goals, because he is the best player, the best scorer, and he will help them get out of this. If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
Gerrard has articulated himself perfectly
In contrast to Jamie Carragher’s usage of strong words such as ‘disgrace‘ to describe Salah’s comments, Gerrard has articulated himself brilliantly with his verdict on the situation.
The Egyptian went too far in telling the wider world that his relationship with Slot has disintegrated and that people at Anfield are trying to throw him ‘under the bus’, and he’s now paying the price by being left out of the squad for a crucial Champions League fixture.
However, as Clarence Seedorf argued on Prime Video Sport last night, the situation hasn’t gone beyond a stage where peace can be made, and in time the Reds’ number 11 might show genuine contrition for his actions over the weekend.
Gerrard is quite right in saying that Liverpool would be stronger with having Salah back in the team and back to the standards that he’s set throughout his time on Merseyside, if that ideal scenario can come to pass.
Whilst Slot’s side produced one of their best performances of the season last night without the Egyptian talisman, there’s bound to be several matches throughout the rest of the campaign where calling upon a player of his talents could make all the difference in getting a result.
You can watch Slot’s full post-Inter Milan press conference below, via Empire of the Kop on YouTube:
Now this is a more balanced article. Indeed captain marvel and seedorf have nailed it. Slot can show his gentleman gesture by initiating the talk. Van dijk being the captain can be the mediator. Whatever can be thrashed out will be thrashed out. Dutch are direct people and Salah is being very direct as well. We can have a closure to this matter after this talk.
Blessed are the peacemakers, good man management is getting the best out of your players. Talking to them, not discarding them. While slot is getting the results he doesn’t need to do anything, but keep losing and people will be asking why did you fall out with the player who won you the league last season. 29 goals 18 assists. Would slot had won the league without Salah last season. No chance.