Mo Salah and Jurgen Klopp in touchline row with Liverpool star forced to intervene
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was seen arguing with his manager Jurgen Klopp, moments before he came off the bench during the clash with West Ham at the London Stadium which all but killed the Reds' title hopes
Mohammed Salah and Jurgen Klopp became embroiled in a furious touchline row as Liverpool's title hopes were all but ended at West Ham.
The Egyptian forward was about to come on as part of a triple substitution as Liverpool sought to keep their slim Premier League title hopes alive.
But when Michail Antonio headed home Jarrod Bowen's cross to make it 2-2, Salah and Klopp became involved in an angry exchange of words with one another on the touchline.
Darwin Nunez, who was also coming on as part of the triple change, had to intervene, stretching an arm out in an attempt to diffuse a clearly angry Salah.
Salah eventually entered the fray with 11 minutes of the game remaining, with the scores level rather than the visitors being ahead.
Bowen had put West Ham in front near the end of a low quality first half before Andy Robertson regained parity for the Reds. And Liverpool, who had made five changes from the midweek Merseyside derby defeat at Everton, went in front when Cody Gakpo's shot took three deflections off Hammers players before ending up in the net.
At the final whistle, Salah marched straight down the tunnel, rather than clapping the travelling away fans.
When asked by TNT Sport about the row and if he could discuss what had been said, Klopp responded: “No. We spoke already in the dressing room, for me that’s done.”
Klopp - for the second time - in three games had opted to start with Salah on the bench, with his form coming under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks. Speaking after the defeat at Everton, Kop legend Jamie Carragher admitted that for the first time, Salah's future should come into question.
"There is a real discussion for the new manager about what the future holds for Mo Salah – it's the first time we've asked that question. He only has a year to go on his contract,” Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports after the Merseyside Derby.
"He's looked a shadow of himself for a lot of this season but especially since he's come back from injury. He is Liverpool's legend, superstar, one of the all-time greats. But he's been so far off it."
On the Salah-Klopp row, Peter Crouch said: “It didn’t look good. I can’t say exactly what they’re saying, it didn’t look good, I don’t think it looks good for the club.
“Listen Mo Salah is a player who starts the majority of games for Liverpool, he’ll be fuming. He’ll be fuming to be on the bench. Players like that who are expected to start are never happy, but no-one likes to see this, between a manager and a real key player.”
Ally McCoist added: “Not good at all. Particularly when you see Mo Salah coming back for another bite and one of his team-mates has to intervene. It does not look good, that kind of stuff should be behind closed doors.”
And McCoist, when asked if he expects to see Salah follow Klopp out of the Anfield exit door this summer, said: “Yeah I do actually. I think he has been one of the best players we have seen in this league, he’s been nothing short of fantastic for Liverpool Football Club, but his form has dipped - I don’t think anyone can argue that.
“And it looks to me, and it is guesswork, but it looks to me like he could be moving. It could be one of these situations that suits both parties.
"It might suit Mo Salah to move on and it might suit Liverpool to reinvest the money they’ll get for him.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Related
Share this page
Guest Posts by Easy Branches
