Sports
Mohamed Salah reveals isolation with selfie from Liverpool training ground
Mohamed Salah posted a selfie of him all alone at the Liverpool training ground this morning after being left out of the squad for tonight’s Champions League game at Inter Milan.
Salah was dropped for the game at San Siro following his remarkable outburst at the weekend, in which he claimed he had been made a scapegoat for the club’s recent poor performances, and also revealed his relationship with Reds boss Arne Slot has disintegrated.
Rather than travelling with the rest of the players to Italy yesterday, Salah was left on Merseyside and sent a picture showing his isolation.
Salah was on the bench for Saturday evening’s game at Leeds – the third match on the trot he has been named among the substitutes. And, having not been brought on at Elland Road despite Liverpool struggling to a 3-3 draw, he lashed out afterwards.
The Egypt striker said: “I’m very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season.
“Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.
“I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far I am on the bench for three games so I can’t say they keep the promise.”
Salah may still have a Liverpool future – Slot
Salah’s future dominated the press conference prior to Liverpool’s game at Inter with Slot insisting there may be a route back for the 33-year-old.
“I don’t feel that my authority has been undermined,” Slot said. “It’s not the way I feel it. I’m a firm believer that there is always a possibility to return for a player.
“It’s not about me, if my life is difficult, yes or no, that’s not very important in a situation like this.
“It’s if it is more difficult for the team and for the club? No one likes us to be in the situation we’re in at the moment.
“It is not the first or last time a player is emotional and says something. My reaction is clear and that that he is not here.
“Usually I am calm and polite but that doesn’t mean I am weak and if a player says that it is is up to me to react and he is not here.
“I have no clue [if he will play again], I cannot answer that question at this period in time.”
Salah has scored 250 goals for Liverpool since signing from Roma in 2017, but has just five in 19 games this season.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher called Salah’s comments “a disgrace” and questioned whether the Egyptian superstar will play for the club again.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher said: “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 has done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed with his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position.
“He’s chosen this weekend to do this now, and he’s waited I think for a bad result…everyone involved with the club (feeling) like they’re in the gutter, and he’s chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe try to get him sacked.”
Liverpool ended the weekend in 10th place in the Premier League and their hopes of defending the crown they won last season appear to be over. They are 13th in the Champions League table having won three of their five games.
