Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is “destroying his legacy”, according to former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, after the Egypt international publicly criticised his relationship with head coach Arne Slot.
Salah said on Saturday he felt he had been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and that his relationship with Slot had broken down. Rooney believes Slot must now assert his authority and leave Salah out of the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match at Inter Milan and Saturday’s home game against Brighton.
“Arne Slot has to show his authority and pull him in and say ‘you are not travelling with the team, what you said is not acceptable’,” Rooney said on his latest podcast episode.
“Take yourself off to Afcon and let everything calm down. If I was him there would be no way he would be in the team.”
Rooney added that Salah must resolve his issues with Slot or move on. “It needs to be sorted out quickly either way,” he said.
Salah, 33, has scored 250 goals in 420 Liverpool appearances but has not started the past three matches and was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.
After the game, he told reporters: “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship. 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.”
Salah, who signed a new two-year contract in April, scored 29 Premier League goals last season as Liverpool won the title.
Rooney questioned why the forward chose to go public with his frustration. “He is absolutely destroying his legacy at Liverpool,” he said. “It would be sad for him to throw it all away. He’s gone about it all wrong.”
Liverpool have struggled to match the levels of Slot’s first season in charge and sit ninth in the Premier League, 10 points off leaders Arsenal. Salah has four goals in 13 league appearances.
Rooney also criticised Salah’s comments that he does not need to “go every day fighting for my position because I earned it”.
He said: “Time catches up with all of us, and this season he hasn’t looked as his best, at his sharpest. You want to see him roll his sleeves up and say ‘ok then, I’ll show you’.
“To have the arrogance to say he doesn’t have to earn his place because he has already earned his place, you need to be at your best every week to try and stay in the team. If I was one of his team-mates, I wouldn’t be happy at all with what he said because this is where Liverpool need him most.
“If anything, he has thrown Liverpool under the bus with his words. He’s been absolutely incredible for Liverpool, but this was disrespectful to his team-mates, manager and fans.”
Rooney added that Salah’s comments could create a difficult atmosphere around the club. “I would imagine he will be very quiet around the training ground and that will bring a negative energy in itself to the new players Arne has bedded in. I am sure over the next couple of years he will regret saying what he has.”
