The football world has been in a lot of debate when Wayne Rooney urged Liverpool manager Arne Slot to make what he termed as a big decision on Mohamed Salah. The remarks followed the dismal Liverpool performance in losing 3-0 to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which only exacerbated the prospects of questioning why Slot had not been performing earlier in the season.
In one of the local sports podcasts, the ex-Manchester United striker criticized the defensive effort put by Salah, despite the Egyptian-born player having already amassed five goals this season. Rooney also said that sacking Salah would send a powerful message to the team and may change the mentality.
Rooney said, Salah is not appealing to their defense. When you are a bench player, what does that say? He emphasized that an aggressive management decision would revitalize a team that now has no sense of self and unity.
Salah, the last player to be named the Player of the Month in the English Premier League the single season before scoring the most goals and most assists, is still one of the biggest threats to Liverpool in the attacking position. His history season came at a time when Arne Slot led Liverpool to the title of the Premier League following the dismissal of long- time manager Jurgen Klopp.
Nevertheless, Liverpool has suffered a drastic drop in the current season. The club is in 11th position in the table with only 18 points after 12 games despite spending PS241 million over the summer on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. The reds have not won in the past seven league matches and this is raising a lot of concern amongst the fans.
Another cause of the inconsistent results of Liverpool teams that was pointed out by Rooney was the effect of injuries, particularly the loss of Diogo Jota. However, he admitted that Slot is already under an ever-increasing pressure, and such comparisons with the Klopp legacy are inevitable.
