MO Salah might as well have kicked a puppy. Or shot Bambi. Or committed any of those awful, exaggerated acts often thrown up as examples as the worst of humanity. But he went further still. He offended the Saint of Scousers.
You just can’t do that to Jurgen Klopp. He never walks alone on Merseyside. He walks on water. He’s beyond reproach, untouchable, and he’s on his way out, too, which only adds to the martyrdom around Anfield.
You’re not supposed to kick a man when he’s down, let alone a mythical being who once commanded mentality monsters. But Liverpool are flailing, Klopp is meandering and Salah stuck the boot in anyway, publicly arguing with his revered manager on the touchline.
If the Egyptian was making a statement, then it may prove bigger than the one he initially intended. The daft petulance on the touchline hinted at the end of a beautiful friendship, but not the straightforward one between Klopp and Salah. Yes, that was beautiful, too, as the fatherly German guided his doting forward in the direction of every trophy worth winning. But the fissures run deeper. A dynasty is breaking.
And it may be time for Salah to follow Klopp out of Anfield.
With only a year left on his contract, the forward may be tempted by Saudi Arabia’s cash, but there is more at stake than dollars and cents. While silly spats between managers and players generally add to the pantomime experience of the English Premier League, they do not happen between Klopp and his Reds. They do not happen at Liverpool. And they never involve Salah. Not once. In seven years.
In fact, just last week, Bastian Schweinsteiger sat down with Gary Neville and used Liverpool as a benchmark for everything that Manchester United were not: a well-run, sensibly financed outfit with smart purchases and a clean house. The Reds didn’t wash their dirty linen in public or private. Like a branded detergent, Klopp had removed all stubborn stains.
But the grubbiness is sneaking through now, even though Klopp is still around. This is a worry. There were similar traces in the final days of Arsene Wenger’s reign at Arsenal, and the club had to rinse and repeat twice before Mikel Arteta started to brighten up the place.
Sir Alex Ferguson, the last of the sheepskin tyrants, kept all matters in-house until he retired at Manchester United. And David Moyes suffered the consequences. Oh, a penny for his thoughts at the weekend, standing on the touchline at West Ham and watching the schoolboy theatre play out between Salah and Klopp. A fading dynasty dealing with a departing icon and a frustrated playing legend. It was Groundhog Day for Moyes.
Back in 2013, he had Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs to contend with, a constellation of bright egos increasingly aware that the lights were dimming: individually, in the dressing room and across Old Trafford. Moyes was not really expected to illuminate proceedings. He was not taken seriously and Manchester United never recovered.
Laboured since return from Africa Cup of Nations
But Salah isn’t taking Klopp seriously now. Whatever the two men discussed, whatever the legitimacy of either man’s grievance, a Liverpool player challenged Klopp’s authority in public. And it was not an accident.
In the mixed zone, the area where players are invited to stop for interviews with journalists – but rarely do – Salah passed by and remarked, “There is going to be fire today if I speak.” His response was calculated because he rarely says anything. According to the Liverpool Echo, Salah has spoken on the record just twice in seven years in the mixed zone. Even in the pre-season friendly at Singapore’s National Stadium, a match of no consequence, Salah smiled and waved. But he didn’t speak.
And now, with three games of the season remaining – and Klopp’s last at the club – Salah promises a “fire” if he explains the situation between himself and the manager. What purpose is he hoping to serve?
Salah’s salary is reported to be a unique, incentivised deal that begins at £350,000 a week and rises to £400,000, if he ticks the right boxes. Since he signed the latest contract in mid-2022, Salah has scored 54 times. He’s ticked a lot of boxes. The relationship has been a productive one for all parties. His legacy is secure.
But equally, the Egyptian has laboured since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, where he picked up a hamstring injury. His signature burst of pace has eluded him, making it harder to cut inside. Of his 41 appearances, only 14 have come since the Africa Cup of Nations (with only eight starts). Another late cameo against West ham appeared to be the last straw, for both player and manager, for whatever reasons.
Liverpool’s next manager, expected to be Arne Slot, may listen to the ghosts of coaching legends past and remember that it wasn’t just the exits of Ferguson and Wenger that led to the downturn of their respective clubs. It was also the players they left behind.
The difference between a supportive club legend and a restless, ageing misfit can be measured by the type of manager in the dugout. Slot may want Salah’s undoubted craftsmanship at Anfield. On the other hand, he may want to flog the Egyptian to the Saudis and invest the proceeds in a younger, fitter forward who is unlikely to rebuke the coach on the touchline.
A cynic could suggest that Liverpool’s decline since their Carabao Cup triumph has mirrored that of their fading forward. Salah’s fatigue has been replicated elsewhere (though it’s hardly fair to blame him for the Reds’ calamitous defending.)
But pointing fingers would also be unfair and unnecessary. Why tarnish the reputations of either party? Salah does look shattered, just as Klopp seems weary. Their powers are waning, but an hysterical pile-on feels ungrateful on our part, just as it feels churlish for them to play out their final days like bickering kids in a playground.
Salah and Klopp built something special at Anfield, a period of giddy euphoria that’ll be remembered for decades. And while their dominance is ending, they owe it to themselves to do the right thing. Both men should leave Liverpool, but leave with their dignity intact.
Salah and Klopp built something special at Anfield, a period of giddy euphoria that’ll be remembered for decades. And while their dominance is ending, they owe it to themselves to do the right thing.
Neil Humphreys is an award-winning football writer and a best-selling author, who has covered the English Premier League since 2000 and has written 28 books.
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