Mohamed Salah has accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after being left out of the starting lineup for the third game running as the champions drew at Leeds, saying he has been made a scapegoat for the poor start to the season and casting severe doubt on his future at the club.
“I can’t believe … I’m sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,” the Egypt international said. “The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why.
“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.” He refused to specify who that person was.
Salah has been leading scorer in the Premier League four times and was both the Professional Footballers’ Association’s and the Football Writers’ Association’s player of the year last season as he helped Liverpool to his and their second Premier League triumph. But he suggested next week’s home league game against Brighton could be his last for the club. He will join up with the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco after that and he gave a strong hint that he could leave Liverpool in the January transfer window.
“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,” Salah said after Liverpool’s 3-3 draw at Elland Road on Saturday. “I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.
“This club, I always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much I will always do. I called my mum yesterday – you guys [journalists] didn’t know if I would start or not, but I knew. Yesterday I said [to my mum]: ‘Come to the Brighton game. I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it.’ In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now. I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go the Africa Cup. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.”
Asked directly if he thought that the Brighton fixture at Anfield next Saturday would be his last for Liverpool, he replied: “In football you never know. I don’t accept this situation. I have done so much for this club.”
Salah has scored only four Premier League goals this season, one of those a penalty, and has been widely criticised for his lack of defensive work as Liverpool have endured a stuttering start to their title defence. But he is clearly hurt that he is taking the blame for their poor form and feels the club have let him down after he agreed a two-year contract extension in the spring.
“I got a lot of promises and so far I am on the bench for three games so I can’t say they have kept the promise,” he said. “It is not acceptable for me. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player. How I see it now is like: ‘You throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now.’ But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.
“The respect, I want to get. I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone but I earned my position. It’s football. It is what it is. I am top goalscorer, best player, winning the league in such a style, but I am the one who has to defend himself in front of the media and fans.
“After what I have done for the club it really hurts. You can imagine, really. After going from home to the club and you don’t know if you are starting. I know the club too well, I have been here many years. Tomorrow [the Sky pundit Jamie] Carragher is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine.”
Salah did not feature in the win at West Ham last Sunday but came off the bench at half-time in the draw against Sunderland on Wednesday. However, he did not make an appearance at Elland Road, a situation he clearly finds extremely frustrating. “I have been at this club, scoring more than anyone in this generation, since I came to the Premier League. If I was somewhere else, everybody would go to the media and defend the players. I am the only one in this situation. Can I give an example?
“It’s silly but I am sorry. I remember a while ago, Harry Kane was not scoring for 10 games, and everyone in the media was like: ‘Oh, Harry will score for sure.’ When it comes to Mo everyone is like: ‘He needs to be on the bench.’”
There has been consistent interest from the Saudi Pro League for several months, but Salah would not be drawn on whether that was his likely destination. “I don’t want to answer this question,” he said, “because the club is going to take me to a different direction.”
Did he regret signing the new contract? “Imagine how bad I feel that I have to answer it, honestly,” he said. “That hurts, even the question hurts. This club, signing for this club, I will never regret it. I thought I’m going to renew here and end my career here, but this is not according to the plan, so I’m not regretting signing for the club for sure.
“Somehow it will end but the thing in my head is like: ‘Why it should end this way?’ Because I am too fit, just five months ago I was just winning every individual award so why should it go this direction?”
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