The crisis at Anfield has deepened, with Liverpool’s title defense completely collapsing after a run of six losses in their last seven league games. Now, former Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney blames Salah for exacerbating the issue, calling on manager Arne Slot to take the drastic measure of dropping his star forward.
Speaking on his podcast, Rooney argued that Mohamed Salah’s current lack of defensive effort is sending a damaging message through the squad, pushing Liverpool deeper into their “very bad spell.”
The Core Criticism: Lack of Defensive Work Rate
Rooney did not mince words when discussing the Egyptian’s role in Liverpool’s downturn. While acknowledging Salah’s status as a club legend, the former England captain insisted that performance and work ethic must come first, especially when results are poor.
“Salah is not helping them defensively,” Rooney stated. “If you’re one of the players who they’ve signed and you’re on the bench and you’ve seen him not running—what message does that send to you?”
This public criticism centers on the imbalance Salah’s defensive apathy creates, which teams are increasingly exploiting on Liverpool’s right flank. The lack of collective effort, Rooney suggests, is directly linked to the team’s disastrous run of form that has seen them plummet to 11th in the Premier League.
Rooney’s Bold Solution: Drop Salah to Jolt the Team
To rescue the team and ease the pressure on Arne Slot, Rooney urged the Dutch manager to make a bold, impactful call: bench the Egyptian King.
Rooney believes that removing Salah would be the shock therapy required to make the team “compact and hard to beat.”
“If I was Slot, I’d try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team,” Rooney said. “When you’re not winning games, you want to try and stay compact and hard to beat. I think while they’re going through this period, 100% he needs to make a decision [to drop Salah].”
The advice to axe the club’s talisman reflects the severity of the situation at Anfield, where the focus has shifted from title aspirations to simply stopping the rot.
Beyond the Blame: Acknowledging Deeper Issues
While Rooney blames Salah for a portion of the crisis, he did offer some context for the wider slump, pointing to the emotional toll that the tragic event involving teammate Diogo Jota has had on the squad.
However, he concluded by stressing that such factors do not excuse a lack of fight from the Premier League champions: “There’s no excuse for not fighting and not tackling.”
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