Salah 'undermined' Klopp with his tantrum – 'It's All Kicking Off'
Mohamed Salah ‘undermined’ Jurgen Klopp with his Chelsea tantrum… and the Liverpool manager failed to deal with it, says Chris Sutton on Mail Sport’s new podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off’
- Click here to listen to Mail Sport’s brand new show ‘It’s All Kicking Off’ in full
- Mohamed Salah was substituted in Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday
- He reacted angrily and Chris Sutton believes he undermined Jurgen Klopp
One of the flashpoints of Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea on Sunday was Mohamed Salah’s furious reaction to being subbed.
The Egyptian blanked Jurgen Klopp and made a point of tearing off the taping from his wrist as he trudged off, throwing it to the ground.
He was replaced by 17-year-old Ben Doak when Liverpool needed a goal and did not take kindly to the decision from his manager.
Mail Sport’s brand new podcast, It’s All Kicking Off, addressed the open dissent and how the manager could, or should have dealt with it, with Chris Sutton arguing that it ‘undermined’ Klopp and set a ‘petulant’ example to younger players.
Here’s how Sutton and Ian Ladyman viewed the incident at Stamford Bridge.
Ian Ladyman (left) and Chris Sutton (right) discussed the Mohamed Salah flashpoint
Salah walked past Klopp and completely ignored him after he was substituted
Ian Ladyman: Mo Salah have what you might describe as a little bit of a temper tantrum on the way off the field having been subbed, what is your take on that?
Chris Sutton: I didn’t like it. I thought that he undermined the manager in that moment. I don’t care what anybody says. If every player acted in that petulant way then Liverpool are in big trouble. He can’t do that, he must realise that.
Klopp actually, I heard him talk about it after the game, I don’t think he necessarily dealt with the situation. I think he should have condemned Salah for doing that, he didn’t because we know why, Salah’s their best player.
Ian Ladyman: Everybody in that press room at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, and I was there, everyone in that press room was waiting and praying that Klopp would criticise Salah for the headlines, but he’d be out of his mind to do that because all that does is give a story new life into the next day.
Chris Sutton: You have to have standards at a football club so you know why is Mo Salah treating different people? Privately I’m sure Klopp will have a view. Publicly, there’s absolutely no point in burying your best player on the first weekend of the season. I get that, but then you can’t argue against the fact that he undermined Klopp. And that’s not a good look for Klopp. If Mo Salah does it, then every other Liverpool player can do it. And will Klopp deal with that differently then?
Ian Ladyman: Very, very good question. If you’re in that dressing room. and you are a younger player, a less experienced player, a new player, someone like Alexis McAllister, and you see that happening, you see Salah behave like that, what does that make you think? It makes you think that you can possibly do the same thing. I’ll give you an example of that.
So last season, Eric Ten hag left Marcus Rashford on the bench for being late for a team meeting. I think that was the right thing to do. There’s the line. Players know where the line is. And I just think that from Klopp’s point of view, the fact that Mo Salah undermined him, that’s not a good look. You know, your leader has to have strength and Klopp looked like he didn’t have strength. He should have dealt with it. I’m surprised Klopp didn’t deal with it after. Did you ever do it?
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Sutton believes Salah undermined the manager with his very public reaction
Salah was seen on the television cameras reacting angrily to being substituted
Chris Sutton: No. Never. I don’t, not in that manner. Because you must have been speaking to a lot of people. In my head, I’d have been saying all sorts of things to the manager. But then, you know, I would have realised the effect my actions would have had. And however frustrated a player is, They cannot act in that way.
Ian Ladyman: Let’s take you back again to your time as a British record transfer. Again, so say you’re playing for Blackburn in that first season and you’re substituted having maybe not scored and not had your best game and you know that the cameras are focusing on your face as you walk off the pitch. What goes through your mind at that point?
Chris Sutton: I don’t think I was ever subbed in that first season of Blackburn… But, you know, I take the wider point, but nobody likes it. But everybody has to understand. It can have on team spirit and team morale. And, you know, I do not think that’s a good look… It doesn’t sit well in the dressing room.
Ian Ladyman: Well, on a wider point with Salah, I do think that if there is any frustration in Salah’s mind going into this season, Liverpool really need to have a good one because he already knows he’s not playing in the Champions League this season. If this campaign goes that same way, I do wonder how Salah will be in his head.
Chris Sutton: So you’re saying he’s off this season or don’t get in a Champions League spot, or they don’t challenge for the Premier League?
Ian Ladyman: ‘I’m saying that they, I would imagine, feel quite happy and fortunate to still have him this season. And I would imagine without a doubt that there will be clubs in his ear. Saudi Arabia will be in his ear. Other clubs in Spain will be in his ear. I’m just saying, I think that that’s one to watch. That is one to watch.’
Ladyman feels that there could be transfer interest in Salah before the window closes
Mail Sport’s podcast It’s All Kicking Off reflected on all the weekend’s action
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