Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has spoken out on the Mohamed Salah situation after the Egyptian claimed the club has “thrown him under a bus” and “someone wants him to get all the blame”.
Gerrard, a former captain with the Reds told TNT Sports;
“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect. He won’t sit out of the team, which I respect.
“The couple of lines about throwing people under the bus [is] wrong. He needs to reverse a little bit away from that.
“He needs to deal with that with the manager. This needs Virgil van Dijk to go, ‘How are we sorting this out for the benefit of not the club, or the team, but the fans?’
“I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it. I lived it with [Luis] Suarez when he fell out with Brendan [Rodgers]. I’ve seen it all.
“I’ve been there myself from a personal point of view. I did the Salah statement in 30 seconds against [Manchester] United when I got sent off. So no-one’s perfect.
“We’ve all had head losses as players. We’ve all done emotional things.
“And I know in time when this all calms Mo will go, ‘I shouldn’t have said that, I maybe shouldn’t have said that, I was a bit emotional, I was a bit hasty.’
“But at the end of the day, Liverpool football club needs Mo Salah, back playing well, back scoring goals, because he is the best player, the best scorer and he will help them get out of this.
“If this goes on this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
Virgil Van Dijk gives his reaction
Current Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk gave his response after their Champions League 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro.
“I don’t think I’m the one to speak about if someone has to apologise for anything,” Van Dijk told Prime Video.
“I think it’s him airing his feelings over the last couple of days, and that’s something that the club has to deal with, and obviously we as well.
“The task was that we have responsibility, not only to ourselves, but to the whole football club and to all the fans in the world to perform.
“So the focus was there, nothing else. Nothing has changed and he trained as well.”
What did Salah say?
Salah was dropped from selection and did not travel to Italy following his controversial post-match interview at Leeds United, in which he said he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club after being left on the bench for the previous three matches.
‘I could not believe I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,’ he said at Leeds’ ground. ‘That’s the third time. It’s the first time in my career I think.
‘(I am) very disappointed, I have done so much for this club over the years, especially last season. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel.
‘Someone wants me to get all the blame. The club promised me a lot in 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 manager Slot). Now we don’t have any relationship and I don’t know why.’
