Lesser player than Salah would be ‘kicked out pretty quickly’ but Neville accepts Liverpool outburst | OneFootball

Pundit Gary Neville was accepting of the reasons Mohamed Salah hit out at Liverpool, but feels a player of lesser stature would be “kicked out pretty quickly.”

Salah spent three straight Premier League games on the bench and decided enough was enough. After the latest of them, the Liverpool icon told reporters he felt the club had “thrown him under the bus” and wanted him out.

He was not allowed to travel to the San Siro to face Inter Milan in the week as a result, but Arne Slot has allowed him back into his squad to face Brighton this weekend after the pair held peace talks.

Sky Sports pundit Neville, uncharacteristically, has not had a lot to say on Salah’s outburst, but has now given his take, understanding where the player was coming from.

He said: “I see it from both sides. I wouldn’t see it from an ordinary player’s side.

“But when you have this level of player that’s almost the best in the world, which I’d put Mo Salah up there with, you sometimes… not have to accept what he’s done because Cristiano Ronaldo did it [at United] and I didn’t take to it too kindly at all because I think those players have an expectancy to bring everybody along with them.

“But it is not unusual behaviour for a player of that level of quality and talent. They often have a different outlook on things.

“It’s easy for me when it’s at Liverpool because I can sit back and relax a little bit. I wouldn’t like it if it was at my club Manchester United and I didn’t a few years ago when Cristiano did it and he went and did the big interview.

“I thought it was wrong, I thought the timing was wrong and the way it was delivered was wrong, so I can see why Liverpool fans would be upset. But I was doing the game [against Leeds], I thought [Salah] should have come on the pitch, I said it on commentary.

“I can see why he was upset but I can also see it from Liverpool’s perspective – they feel let down and that he’s put a lot of attention on them that wasn’t needed in a moment of challenge and difficulty.

“If it was a player that didn’t have the level of talent, experience or success of Mo Salah I think they’d be kicked out pretty quickly.

“But when you’re that exceptional and that talented and have the presence of a great player you don’t accept being put on the bench and not being put on.

“I played with players who were exactly the same and left the club as soon as that was the case.”