Jamie Carragher has responded to comments made by Liverpool star Mohamed Salah in an interview which has generated plenty of headlines
Jamie Carragher spent more than eight minutes responding to Mohamed Salah’s recent interview after Liverpool’s draw with Leeds United. The Egyptian star spoke to the media in the mixed zone, where he was unhappy at being named on the bench for a third successive match.
Salah claimed that he no longer has a relationship with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, while also claiming that the Reds had ‘thrown him under the bus’.
The result has seen Salah excluded from Liverpool’s squad for the Champions League clash against Inter Milan on Tuesday night. Salah also hinted that the Reds’ clash against Brighton at the weekend could be his last for the club.
Carragher made his regular appearance on Sky Sports‘ Monday Night Football, where he gave a lengthy response to Salah’s recent remarks.
READ MORE: Key points from Arne Slot’s Liverpool press conference as he addresses Mo Salah bombshellREAD MORE: Mohamed Salah’s agent has already given clear Arne Slot verdict amid Liverpool interview fallout
Below is the full transcript of what Jamie Carragher said in response to Salah’s comments after Liverpool’s draw with Leeds.
“I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst, I don’t think it was.
“I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed, with him and his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position. He did that 12 months ago – and I called him out about it – and he played on the heartstrings of Liverpool supporters.
“Liverpool were on top of the league, he’d scored the winning goal at Southampton. That was the time to come out and put pressure on the Liverpool ownership, so for the rest of the season you have banners in the crowd – ‘Give Mo his dough’.
“He’s chose this weekend to do this now and he’s waited, I think, for a bad result with Liverpool – concede a last-minute goal… Everyone involved with the club feels like they’re in the gutter at the moment, and he’s chose that time to go for the manager, and maybe try and get him sacked. That’s the way I felt about it.
“The one line that stands out for me is ‘thrown under the bus’. He’s tried to throw the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months with the situations that I’ve just mentioned.
“With the manager right now, he should be doing as much as he can to help the club get out of the worst run they’ve had since the 1950s and he hasn’t done that.”
“When I’ve thought about it over the weekend, and I’ve put myself in Salah’s position or how I was as a player – I’m not Mo Salah.
“Mo Salah is a world-renowned player, who is famous around the world, and should those players be treated differently? I think they should.
“When you think of players in that bracket over the last eight years, I would say [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Kylian] Mbappe. I wouldn’t put Salah alongside them but he is very close for what he’s done for Liverpool, so a legendary figure.
“All of those players get privilege, exactly the same one Mo Salah gets at Liverpool. He doesn’t have to defend, he doesn’t have to chase back, so that’s the privilege he has with Liverpool.
“When you talk about throwing people under the bus, he’s thrown the Liverpool right-back under the bus the last eight years. Can you imagine playing behind him for eight years? But we accept it because he’s a superstar.
“He’s scored 250 goals and he’s given me, a Liverpool supporter, some of the greatest nights of my life watching him and what he’s done.
“When you think of the ego of these types of players, Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Salah. I think they have a feeling that the success of a football club is down to them.
“I have no problem with that, because I think that drives them on to get more goals and get more success and it benefits Liverpool.
“It then becomes a problem when you’re in a situation like this. When Mo Salah’s talking about how many goals he’s scored, ‘I’ve got more than anyone else in the Premier League‘, he’s always talking about himself.
“I’d remind Salah and his agent that before he came to Liverpool he was known as the man who failed at Chelsea, that’s just a fact. He’d never won a major trophy before he came to Liverpool. He’s also the greatest player his country have ever had in Egypt. Egypt are the most successful country in the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] and he’s going there in a couple of weeks.
“Salah’s never won the AFCON. That’s not me trying to put Mo Salah down as a player. I’ve just said he’s one of the best players in the world over the last eight years, very few better. But, what it tells Salah and his agent is that it’s not about an individual.
“You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool. You haven’t won anything with Egypt. All that tells you is that no matter how good a player you are, you need help from your teammates, your manager and fans. I think it’s really important that he remembers that. When he’s talking after the game, all it’s about is me, me, me.
“Have I ever criticised Mo Salah on the pitch? I don’t class that [legs gone comment as criticism], that’s something that happens for every player, I’ve never criticised him for not working back, I’ve never criticised him when he’s gone for games without scoring, I’ve never criticised him when he hasn’t passed to someone he should. He’s an absolute legend, because what you get from him you have to put up with certain things.
“Some of the criticism has been excessive, I’ve said that publicly, but I will go after Salah when he tries to throw my club under the bus off the pitch and just think about himself.
“Let’s understand Arne Slot, he’s conceded 10 goals in three games, one of them against PSV, Salah was embarrassing in terms of the challenge that he puts in.
“He then goes to West Ham away, Nuno [Espirito Santo] team, big on set-pieces. We need to keep a clean sheet, that’s all he cares about. What’s the one thing you’re going to do as a manager? You take the one player out in your team you have allowed not to defend.
“You play Sunderland at home, I’d have played him, but it’s understandable that he keeps the same team. He brings him on at half-time. West Ham away and Leeds away, why would you bring him on when you’re winning those games? You don’t need a goal, you need not to concede.
“So if you’re bringing Salah on, you’re bringing on a guy who can’t defend set pieces and doesn’t run back.
“The one time I wanted to be really critical, and I held back, this season about Salah on the pitch. As I’ve said before, I’ve never been critical of him on the pitch.
“He is a legend of the club, his legacy is there, if he doesn’t score another goal or make another assist for this club, I don’t care. He’s been amazing.
“Where he really let himself down, in my eyes, was this season in Frankfurt and in another game.
“Where there’s a guy who signed for Liverpool who needs a goal more than anyone, Florian Wirtz. Instead of 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 and go over and give him a hug and say, ‘You’re the guy that’s going to take this Liverpool team forward. I don’t need anymore goals’.
“I’ve seen [John] Barnes at the end, Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard, do you think they’re the same players as they were in their pomp? Of course they weren’t.
“Do supporters think any differently of them now when they see them? They say no, you’re in the top five or six players to ever play for Liverpool, and the same will be said of Salah.
“So in terms of on the pitch, the one criticism I’ve got – help the other players. Help Florian Wirtz, help [Alexander] Isak, don’t be obsessed with your own numbers.
“I think the club have made the right decision in terms of him not going abroad. Whether he will play for Liverpool again, I don’t know. I hope he does, because he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had.
“But if you continue like that, and statements like that. If he doesn’t play, who knows.”
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