Mohamed Salah insinuated that his relationship with Liverpool manager Arne Slot is broken after being excluded from the starting XI for a third consecutive fixture in the Reds’ 3-3 draw with Leeds United.
Just over six months ago, an overjoyed Anfield celebrated Liverpool’s 20th league title, less than a year after Slot took the reins at the club.
Now, the Reds sit 10 points short of Premier League leaders Arsenal and all-time great Salah has launched a scathing evaluation of his relationship with the manager.
On the surface it looks like Salah has thrown his toys out of the pram, but there is much more to it than that.
No player is bigger than the football club, but Salah isn’t just a player at Liverpool Football Club.
Branded the 'Egyptian King' by the Anfield faithful, he sits alongside Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush when alluding to the club’s all-time greats.
Salah joined the Reds for a reported £36.5m fee in June 2017 and has since made a mockery of that price tag, demolishing an absurd amount of records in his eight years on Merseyside.
The Egyptian’s legacy at the club is there for everyone to see, but why are a number of Liverpool fans backing Salah after his astonishing outburst?
Well, there’re countless reasons for this response.
Branded a ‘one-season wonder’ after recording 43 goal contributions in his debut campaign for the Reds, the media has simply had to let go of any clickbait accusations after his numbers continued to impress year-on-year.
That hasn’t stopped the media from criticising the Egyptian, however, and just months after Salah scored 29 goals and notched 18 assists in a record-breaking 2024/25 campaign, there were premature suggestions that he is at fault for Liverpool’s downfall this term.
Well, Slot seemingly gave in to the media’s consensus and dropped Salah for Liverpool’s respective contests against West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds.
While you could argue that Salah’s exclusion was down to his form, which has undoubtedly worsened this term, there are a number of his Liverpool teammates that shouldn’t be anywhere near the starting XI based on their recent performances.
The Athletic even suggested that there is a "belief internally that with one win and two draws from the past three games that the change has been effective.” If five points from a possible nine against Premier League newcomers Leeds and Sunderland and relegation candidates West Ham is considered “effective,” it could be a long season for Liverpool fans.
Wayne Rooney brands Mo Salah Liverpool outburst 'unacceptable'
“It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. It’s very clear that someone wants me to get all the blame,” Salah proclaimed in the mixed zone following Liverpool’s draw with Leeds.
While it’s hard to make out who that “someone” may be given Salah’s vagueness, there are suggestions that the decision to phase the forward out from the team may be coming from higher up.
Liverpool CEO Michael Edwards is known for his data-driven approach that often prioritises a club's long-term success over sentiment. But where do we draw the line at prioritising long-term success over sentiment?
Irrespective of how Salah performs between now and the end of his contract in June 2027, his new deal was nothing short of deserved.
There appeared an acceptance that Salah wasn’t going to bring his superhuman 2024/25 form into the 2025/26 season, but there was an aligned acceptance that he wouldn’t need to deliver those numbers with the €350m spent on summer arrivals Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ekitike.
The three summer additions have combined for nine goal contributions in the opening 15 games of the Premier League season. To put that into context, Salah had 21 goal contributions at this stage of last season.
Of course, football fans are fickle. It wasn’t long ago that Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes were commended for their efforts in the 2025/26 summer transfer window, but the club’s new-found method of spending big on market opportunities is yet to reap the rewards and using Liverpool legend Salah as a scapegoat for the Reds’ recent worries is wrong.
Could Salah have voiced his frustrations in a better manner? Yes. Was Salah well within his rights to speak out after ample criticism and little backing from the club? Also, yes.
It's an unfamiliar situation at Liverpool that will surely provide answers in the coming weeks, if not days.
