Gerrard urges Salah to stay at Liverpool and ‘reverse away’ from outburst

LONDON: Liverpool great Steven Gerrard believes the club still need Mohamed Salah and has urged the star forward to “reverse away” from an extraordinary outburst in which he accused the Premier League champions of “throwing him under the bus.”

The Egypt international was omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy for Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win at Inter Milan, following a blistering attack on manager Arne Slot and the club hierarchy after being left on the bench for last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Leeds.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled Salah a “disgrace” for his comments, but Gerrard called for reconciliation between the player and management for the good of everyone at Anfield.

“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.
“A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus—wrong. He needs to reverse a little bit away from that and deal with it with the manager.”

Gerrard added that clashes between players and management were nothing new.

“I’ve seen this and lived it with (Luis) Suarez when he fell out with Brendan (Rodgers) face to face. I’ve been there and done it myself. I did the Salah statements in 30 seconds against (Manchester) United and got sent off,” he explained.
“So no one’s perfect. We’ve all had moments of losing our heads as players and done emotional things,” Gerrard continued, hoping Salah would recognize that he had been “a bit emotional and a bit hasty.”

Salah’s remarks have sparked speculation that Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer in history could leave Anfield in January, despite signing a lucrative new contract in April. The 33-year-old posted a picture of himself training alone in Liverpool’s weights room on Tuesday.

The outburst has also drawn interest from Saudi Arabia, with a source at the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) telling AFP it will do “whatever it can” to buy him.

‘Best player’

Gerrard, however, emphasized Salah’s importance to Liverpool:
“At the end of the day, Liverpool need Mo Salah back playing well, 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 see.”

Dutch boss Slot tried to shift focus back to the team after Dominik Szoboszlai’s controversial late penalty secured all three points at the San Siro, saying: “The ones that are here, they deserve all the credit.”

Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home Premier League match against Brighton.

An unused substitute at Leeds, Salah told reporters at Elland Road:
“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. I don’t know why, but it seems to me that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”

The comments come amid a difficult season for both Salah and Liverpool. Although he has played a key role in Liverpool’s two Premier League titles and one Champions League triumph, Salah has scored just four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season, with the club currently 10th in the table.