Echo

Graeme Souness delivers Mohamed Salah verdict after explosive Liverpool interview - 'Beggars belief'

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.


The Egyptian superstar accused the club of throwing him "under the bus" after being benched for the third game running.Salah, the third highest goalscorer in Liverpool's history, also claimed that his relationship with head coach Arne Slot had completely broken down.But Souness, who made 359 appearances for the Reds as a player before going on to manage the club, has backed the manager and criticised the player, who has now been left out of the squad for Tuesday's Champions League clash at Inter.He told talkSPORT: "The first thing that jumps out to me - it is all in past tense not what he's doing at present or moving forward."It is five goals in 18 games and it doesn't take a mathematician to work out that his numbers are very poor."For whatever reason, he has not been at it this season and he has to accept that. He has nobody else to blame but himself."The damning thing for me was when he said that he didn't have to turn up and fight for his place, because of what he has done for the club.



However, like many of his team-mates, his form has dipped in the current campaign.He has netted just five times in 18 games in all competitions and that has led Slot to drop him.And Souness added: "Every day you should train at match tempo so that when the game comes round, you are ready for the intensity."He should be setting the standards. He has to get back to that."He has obviously been coasting and the manager has seen that.

Now it’s: ‘Throw Mo under the bus because he is a problem in a team'."I don’t think I am a problem. But I have earned it."Salah trained with the rest of the Reds squad at the club's open training session yesterday (Monday).But he has been omitted from the travelling party for the Champions League encounter in Italy against Inter tonight (Tuesday).