Mohamed Salah is the greatest Liverpool player of modern times and will be considered one of the best players ever to pull on the Red shirt when his career comes to a close next week. In the modern era, only Steven Gerrard could claim to have been a better performer than the Egyptian King, whilst perhaps Luis Suarez is the only forward since the Premier League to have been as thrilling to watch.
It is fair to say, therefore, that Salah has earned the right to speak about the club, but I have to admit to being distinctly unimpressed when reading his recent Instagram post that is looking to tear the manager down.
What Was Said
Mo Salah has made a habit of not saying much, which has meant that when he has spoken his words have had some weight behind them. We all remember his comment of “If I speak, there will be fire,” for example, whilst earlier in the campaign his declaration that he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ made international headlines.
The Egyptian isn’t afraid to speak up when it will benefit him or when he feels as though he’s got a point to prove, which is why his recent post on Instagram was noteworthy.
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Considering Salah didn’t always have the best of relationships with Jürgen Klopp at times, it is interesting how often he decided to make reference to him in his post. He talked of going ‘from doubters to believers’, as well as wanting to see the club go back to the ‘heavy metal attacking team’ that opposition players feared and that made us the best team in the country. He said that that has to be the way that we play and that ‘everyone that joins this club should adapt to it’. It was very much a case of ‘shots fired’.
What it Means
There is no questioning the undertone to Salah’s post, which isn’t even all that subtle in terms of its messaging. It is clear to anyone who has been watching from the outside that the Egyptian has not got on well with Arne Slot this term, in spite of the fact that the Dutchman’s tactical tweak allowed Salah to have one of his best seasons in a Liverpool shirt last time out. That hasn’t translated this time around, however, with Salah also being one of the players who was most clearly impacted by the death of Diogo Jota.
@skysportsnews BREAKING: Mohamed Salah posts stunning statement on social media, insisting “crumbling” Liverpool need to recover their identity, calling for a return of the “heavy metal attacking team” that made them feared under Jurgen Klopp 🚨 #liverpool #football #premierleague ♬ original sound – Sky Sports News
The number of Liverpool players who reacted to Salah’s message in a positive manner is suggestive of a group of footballers that have turned against the manager that helped them to win the league just over 12 months ago, but whether it will have any impact on the thinking of the higher-ups at Fenway Sports Group remains to be seen. The owners have shown themselves to be a group of people who won’t be held to ransom by anyone or forced to make a decision that they don’t want to make, so there is very much a world in which all Salah’s post has done is set fire to the building on his way out.
