Alan Shearer Exclusive: I believe Mo Salah won't play for Liverpool again | OneFootball

English Premier League

Shearer says Salah needs to apologise to play for Liverpool again

Betfair Ambassador Alan Shearer talks all things Salah, whether Isak needs to step up his game, why Man City still have a long way to go and shares his thoughts on the Tyne/Wear derby's return to the Premier League...

Salah has tarnished his legacy

I think whether Salah plays for Liverpool again depends on himself, in terms of whether he's prepared to back down and accept that he shouldn't have done what he did. I've been through all the reasons why I think he did it, I understand his attitude and how he feels because I've been there myself. I've felt everything he's feeling when I got left out of the Sunderland game. The big difference is that he shouldn't have gone to the world press.

Only Mo can answer the big question on if he wants to play for Liverpool again. I guess he needs to come out and apologise, although I'm not sure I see that happening. My belief is that he may not play for Liverpool again.

If it is the end for Salah at Liverpool, it'll be such a shame for him because he's been such a great. He's a superstar and superstars are wired differently to normal footballers. It'd be a shame because of what he's achieved there. When you consider the greats of the game that have played for Liverpool, there are only two players that have scored more than him.

He'll go down as a Premier League great whether he has played his last match or not, and it'd be such a shame for him to go out like this.

One thing I will say though is that it won't be forgotten all of this, but I don't think it'll ruin his legacy. He's achieved so much, and Liverpool wouldn't have won what they have without him so I don't think it'll ruin his legacy, but it will be tarnished.

I think Slot has handled the situation really well. I thought he spoke well before and after the game on Tuesday. It was a very, very difficult situation for everyone but I thought he spoke with precision, honesty and openness - I thought he got things absolutely right.

Liverpool's players are behind the manager

Liverpool's win against Inter Milan showed that all the players are behind the manager. That's not to say that they don't like Mo Salah because they do. Everyone who came out to do interviews after the game were all measured in what they had to say and I get that because he's a teammate and most of them have been with him for years, they get on with him, like him and respect him.

All the players spoke really well. But from a manager's point of view, when you make big calls like Arne Slot did - you then need to back it up with results and it was a massive win against Inter because you can imagine the backlash. You could imagine if Liverpool lost to Inter, you know what would've happened. You could've printed the headlines yourself.

To be fair to Arne, his players ran themselves ragged for him. They looked organised, there were no errors. That was the big thing. Liverpool defensively over the course of the season have had a lot of issues and there were hardly any, if any at all on Tuesday. To a man, most of them played very, very well. One or two could improve, Isak being one of them. But I thought it was a really good performance and result for Liverpool.

Say what you want about the decisions but I guess it evened itself out. I thought Liverpool were harshly treated when the goal from the corner was disallowed for handball. That was awful. Equally, I thought the penalty they were given was never a penalty. All in all, the performance and result was exactly what they needed.

Liverpool have to kick on now

The thing is there've been a few times this season where we've thought here we go... when Liverpool have got a result - West Ham being one of them. They played okay and got a great result which made you think they'll kick on and then they go back to multiple mistakes against Sunderland at Anfield.

Real Madrid was something similar. I did that game and thought they were brilliant that night and this is another time where you think they've had a very good performance away from home against a team that don't lose many at the San Siro.

This is the time where Liverpool have to kick on which is what the fans will be hoping for. Brighton at home on Saturday is huge and I guess Arne Slot has a decision to make with Salah. My guess is that he'll leave him out again. All the talk will be about him, and Slot will just want to concentrate on football which he'll be able to do when Salah leaves for AFCON on Sunday.

He's not the Isak of old

We have to stop saying that Isak hasn't had a pre-season. It's been three or four months now since he joined Liverpool. He's not up to speed and not the Isak that we saw at Newcastle. Whether he can be remains to be seen.

If you look back at his time with Newcastle, most the time in games he was receiving early balls from out wide and through the middle. That isn't happening at Liverpool and probably wasn't ever going to when playing with Mo Salah because Salah isn't that type of player anyway.

It's not working for Isak at the minute, and I guess there are several reasons for that, but people have to stop saying he hasn't had a pre-season.

The Tyne/Wear derby was my last professional football game

It's brilliant to have the Tyne/Wear derby back in the Premier League. They're great games to play in, great games for the fans and for one set of fans it's great to get the bragging rights.

The atmosphere is brilliant. I'm really fortunate to have seen derbies all over the world. I've done the Merseyside derby, Old Firm, North London, I've been to all of them and the most ferocious is the Old Firm for different reasons, but the Tyne/Wear is very special. It means a lot to everyone and the bragging rights in recent years have been with Newcastle for obvious reasons - let's hope that continues.

Sunderland have been amazing in the Premier League so far and have had all the plaudits, but I think I'm right in saying that if Newcastle win then they go above them. Sunderland then loses six or seven players to AFCON on Monday.

I have great memories of going to the Stadium of Light. It was where I had my final touch of a football in the professional game with the penalty I scored, and we won 4-1. It wasn't a bad way to go out and let's hope it can be the same result this weekend.

That last game away to Sunderland was probably my best memory in the derby. Although, very early in my Newcastle career, we went to Roker Park when Newcastle fans were banned from going and Sunderland fans were banned from St James' Park. We won 2-0. But I think the best memory is my last game in football.

Newcastle playing away in the Champions League is a huge plus for Sunderland

I guess any time is a perfect time to play Sunderland because they're great games to play in. They've only won one in six but did go to Anfield and put in a really good performance. You have to give them credit for the way they've started the season. No one thought they'd do what they've done so far so they deserve credit for that.

It doesn't matter what form you're in for these games. They're great for many reasons. Let's hope, from a Newcastle point of view, they get the same result as in the FA Cup a couple of years ago because they need a bit of consistency.

I think it's a good sign that Newcastle were disappointed to come away with a draw against Leverkusen. They have to stop conceding late goals but in the grand scheme of things, they went there and got another point.

That's a plus for Sunderland that they're at home getting prepared and have had a free week whilst Newcastle were away in the Champions League, which they could only dream of!

Man City still have a long way to go

Man City are still not what they were and even Pep is saying that himself. I know managers like mind games, but I think he's being genuinely honest. It was a brilliant result against an under-pressure Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso. If you look at Man City defensively, even against Sunderland last weekend, they're still giving chances away. Having said that, we said that other players need to step up when it comes to scoring and they are. Phil Foden and others are stepping up and scoring goals now.

Man City will always outscore teams, but the issue is it may not happen, and they'll get punished if you concede the number of goals that they are. Having said that, it was great for them last week to win and Arsenal losing.

I'm not saying they're back in the title race because I've never said they're out of it but if there's one team you don't want breathing down your neck, it's Man City. As much as Arsenal have been consistent - City won't go away.

Nico O'Reilly has to be taken seriously

For Nico to play in that Man City team on a regular basis and be doing as well as he is, there's obviously a brilliant talent there. When you look at the left-backs available for England in Lewis-Skelly, Lewis Hall - if he continues on the rise that he is, we have to talk about him on an international level.

Arsenal are not bottling the league

Arsenal are not bottling the league, they've lost a game. They did alright and have one or two defensive issues, but you have to give Aston Villa credit. Arsenal won't win every game, it's impossible to do that. They lost at Liverpool early on this season and didn't panic - I think it'll be the same here.

If you wanted any game to be able to have a chance of bouncing back, it'd be Wolves at home. There won't be many people backing anything other than an Arsenal win.

It's always going to be tough losing big players defensively. Mosquera is now out injured, Timber didn't play and Calafiori didn't play so it was a brilliant result for Arsenal under the circumstances on Wednesday night. I guess they may have a couple more additions in those positions for Saturday which they'll need but we talk about this every year. A team will be tested at some stage of the season with results or injuries and maybe now is Arsenal's time.

If they win on Saturday, they'll be back to normality as it was before last weekend.

Aston Villa are in the conversation for title contenders

Do I think Aston Villa will be there at the end for the title? No. Do we have to put them in the conversation? Absolutely, because they've played themselves into it by beating Arsenal. Winning eight of their last nine after the start to the season they had has put them there and it tells you what an amazing job Unai Emery is doing and has done.

It looks as if Ollie Watkins is back to his best. They've obviously got Morgan Rogers and they're so well organised and tough to beat. You have to give a big thumbs up to Unai Emery for the job he's done.

Alonso has to change things at Real Madrid

I wouldn't talk about someone being sacked who is still in a job. What I'd say with Real Madrid, Alonso knows more than anyone because he's played there...when you think about big club scrutiny over in England, for Real Madrid and Barcelona, the pressure is four, maybe five times more than it is any club over here in England. If you've only won two from eight, you run the risk of losing your job - particularly at those two football clubs.

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