“He’s stating the obvious” – Ex-Liverpool winger staunchly defends Salah over social media comments | OneFootball

Mo Salah had ‘every single right’ to call out the drop-off in Liverpool’s standards under Arne Slot, according to Jermaine Pennant.

The Egyptian took to social media on Saturday with a strongly-worded statement which contained a thinly-veiled swipe at the Reds head coach over his style of play and the alarming decline in the team’s fortunes this season.

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Numerous pundits have condemned the 33-year-old for the perceived show of public disrespect towards his boss, with Wayne Rooney going as far as to say that the winger shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Anfield for what’s set to be his final game for the club against Brentford next Sunday.

Pennant backs Salah over social media comments

However, Pennant – a frequent and vocal critic of Slot – has firmly sided with Salah given his achievements for Liverpool over the past nine years.

The former Reds winger said on talkSPORT: “What Mo Salah has said, every single fan feels the same way and would say the same thing.

“There’s no player bigger than the club, but there’s a player bigger than the manager and, unfortunately, Mo Salah has been at Liverpool a lot longer than Arne Slot. Mo Salah’s won more things at Liverpool than Arne Slot, so he has every single right.

“He’s a legend for Liverpool. He single-handedly almost won the league last season, so he has every right to come out and say this is not good enough, this is not what Liverpool’s DNA is. He has every single right and that’s not throwing Arne Slot under the bus. He’s stating the obvious.”

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Salah’s legendary status is beyond dispute

Few would disagree with what Salah said on social media about Liverpool’s style of play being turgid to watch and this season being one of massive underachievement. Rather, the criticism lies in how the Egyptian made his grievances public rather than keeping them in-house.

What it has done is create an unwelcome episode in a week where the footballing world should be recognising the winger’s generational greatness as he prepares to sign off on a Reds career which has been nothing short of legendary.

The scorn from some pundits and journalists is inevitable, but what can’t be disputed is that the 33-year-old is determined for the coaches and teammates he’s leaving behind to get LFC back to the trophy-winning levels that he reached in his time at the club.

It’s fair to say that Salah’s own standards this season have dropped significantly, but one underwhelming campaign doesn’t detract from what a truly exceptional player he has been for Liverpool throughout his time at Anfield.

Once Sunday comes around, hopefully we can all focus solely on what a legend the Egyptian King has been, is and always will be, and he’ll sign off his Reds career the way that he started it against Watford in August 2017 – by getting on the scoresheet.