Rio Ferdinand has offered a strong take on whether or not Liverpool should bench Mohamed Salah and he thinks the club need to look at the bigger picture.
The Mohamed Salah debate has been rumbling on all season, with supporters and football experts alike searching for a solution to fix Liverpool.
It has been a difficult season up to this point for the Premier League champions, with Arne Slot’s team sitting eight in the table.
Salah has faced criticism for his performances, who are a long way off his usual high standards. However, the Egyptian attacker is his club’s top scorer in the league and he has five goals and three assists in all competitions.
Even though Salah has not been in-form, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has made it clear that he deserves to be starting because of what he has offered Liverpool over the years.
He said on Rio Presents: “If Mo Salah doesn’t deserve a bit of loyalty and a bit of time, no one does. Top scorer, breaking all sorts of records and I’m seeing people because he’s had a couple of months off it, or maybe three or four months off it in some people’s eyes.”
Ferdinand has been left frustrated by the way Liverpool fans have reacted to Salah’s on-pitch struggles and it opens up a conversation about the topic of loyalty.
Players are expected to remain true to their clubs, but this is no guarantee that their team will return the favour later down the line.
This becomes particularly controversial when Liverpool are the side concerned, because of the treatment Trent Alexander-Arnold was given after he opted to depart Anfield in the summer.
“‘He shouldn’t start, oh we should get rid of him’. Are you crazy? He’s given you seven or eight years of absolute, ridiculous numbers and ridiculous output. You lot are nuts,” Ferdinand exclaimed.
“And that’s come from a small little segment of people in the media who support Liverpool and probably fan channels and people like that, but I don’t understand it.
“That’s why when people talk to me about loyalty, I say you know what, shove that loyalty talk up your bum because it doesn’t ring true enough around the game.”
There was a similar situation at Tottenham Hotspur with Heung-min Son, to what is currently happening with Salah at Liverpool.
The Korean, who was once linked with a move to Liverpool, was one of the teams’ top goal contributors. However, his performances were underwhelming in comparison with previous years and there were clear signs that he was slowing down.
Son left Spurs after the season concluded and now plays his football at LAFC in the MLS, where he has been racking up plenty of goals.
It could be that the end is near for Salah at Liverpool too. He may still be directly involved with getting goals for his team, but is this enough to keep him starting each week? Ferdinand might think it is, but the fate of the four-time golden boot winner ultimately rests with Slot.
