Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp got into a headed touchline altercation moments before the Liverpool forward was introduced during their 2-2 draw at West Ham on Saturday
Jamie Carragher has slammed Mohamed Salah for his “daft” comment in the mixed zone after the Liverpool forward was involved in a furious touchline spat with Jurgen Klopp.
Salah was dropped down to the bench for their 2-2 draw against West Ham on Saturday and looked far from pleased when he was about to be brought on in the 78th minute. The Egyptian waved his arms across his body and shouted at Klopp, with Darwin Nunez then stepping in to calm both down.
After the match, Klopp refused to share the cause of the disagreement but admitted that he had spoken to Salah in the dressing room and everything was sorted. However, Salah then stirred the spot even more and told reporters in the London Stadium mixed zone: “If I speak, there will be fire.”
Now, former Liverpool defender Carragher has shared his opinion on the incident. “Mo Salah & Jurgen Klopp are both @LFC legends,” he said on X. “We don’t need to take sides!
“Salah is frustrated & angry with Jurgen that he’s not playing & at that moment didn’t want to fully embrace the boss, Jurgen understandably took exception.
“Mo was daft with his comment in the mixed zone but let’s let them sort it out & enjoy the last few weeks together. They’ve been a massive help to each other in all that’s been achieved at the club!”
That is a slightly different view from Carragher compared to the one he gave on Saturday. Quote-tweeting a clip of the incident, he said at the time: “The only reason a manager would be unhappy in this situation, is the player took too long to be ready to come on.”
Meanwhile, former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor believes Salah has every right to be unhappy with Klopp and ‘deserves more respect’ from his manager. Despite not being at his blistering best in recent weeks, Salah is still their top scorer this season on 24 goals in 41 appearances.
He told talkSPORT: “It think it’s been coming from Salah. Salah’s not a sub. You can put Salah on the bench if you are rotating. But Salah has scored 210 goals and has 86 assists for Liverpool.
“A game against West Ham is tough, you don’t give him 12 minutes. That’s what he was probably saying on the sideline. ’12 minutes, come on, I’m Salah, you wouldn’t have a trophy without me, Jurgen’. They wouldn’t have won any trophies without Salah. He’s been unbelievable for that football club. Where’s the respect?”
With Arne Slot expected to replace Klopp as their new manager this summer, Salah’s future is uncertain. The 31-year-old has just over a year left on his contract and Agbonlahor thinks Salah could engineer a move away.
He said: “Klopp is causing problems now for Liverpool’s squad next season [by] upsetting players. There is talk of Salah leaving. Could this affect Salah now? You need to win a game in a title challenge, and you are giving your star player 12 minutes, so you can’t blame him on the sideline. I think Klopp’s got that wrong, disrespecting Salah.”
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
