Mohamed Salah always picks his moments.
It is that impeccable sense of timing which has propelled the Egypt international to dizzying heights on the football pitch, where he has — over the past eight-and-a-half years — cemented his status as a true Liverpool great.
Likewise, Salah’s track record for rare but often explosive interactions with the media indicates that the forward knew exactly how much carnage he would trigger by telling reporters he had been “thrown under the bus” by his club amid their torrid recent run of results.
“Someone wants me to get all the blame,” he said in an explosive seven-and-a-half-minute interview at Elland Road on Saturday night.
“[The] club promised me a lot in the summer. Now I’m on the bench, so I can say they haven’t kept those promises. I used to have a good relationship [with Arne Slot]. Now we don’t have any relationship, and I don’t know why. [It] seems like someone does not want me in the club.”
After Liverpool twice surrendered their lead in a six-goal thriller that ended 3-3 against newly promoted Leeds United, it is almost inconceivable that a player who watched the whole affair from the bench should dominate the postmatch headlines. But Salah is no ordinary player, and both for him and for Liverpool, these are extraordinary times.
It is less than eight months since Salah and head coach Slot enjoyed one of the finest days of their respective careers as Liverpool sealed the Premier League title in front of supporters at Anfield.
At that point, the ink had barely dried on the bumper two-year contract extension Salah had signed in early April, amid a stellar campaign in which he scored 34 goals in all competitions and claimed a host of individual prizes, including the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award.
But with Liverpool’s title defense having veered drastically off course, it seems all cordiality between the Reds’ talismanic forward and his boss has been eroded, with the pair’s relationship now seemingly irretrievable. Last term, Salah pointed to Slot’s willingness to absolve him of defensive responsibilities as one of the reasons for his scintillating form.
In February, the 33-year-old’s notoriously outspoken agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, took to social media to publicly praise Slot, describing the Dutchman as being “excellent at his job.”
Now, though, with Liverpool having won just four of their last 15 games in all competitions, it is clear that Salah has no intention of being the scapegoat for the club’s drastic fall from grace.
“I don’t know if someone wants me out,” Salah said.
“Don’t put words in my mouth, please. It’s just how it feels. I asked, but I don’t see an explanation. I knew I wasn’t going to play [against Leeds]. It’s just take it and swallow it. Arne told me yesterday. I had a meeting yesterday. He knows my feelings.”
Less than a week has passed since Slot hailed Salah’s professionalism after he had been dropped to the bench against West Ham United, insisting that he had handled himself well despite his obvious disappointment. It was the first time the winger had started a league game on the bench since April 2024 — also against West Ham — when he was involved in a touchline spat with previous manager Jurgen Klopp.
“If I speak, there will be fire,” he said at the time, surely knowing that even uttering those seven words would spark major controversy. Still, Salah recovered resoundingly from that saga, going on a run of 53 consecutive starts in the top flight and sending another litany of records tumbling.
Source: Espn
