Mohamed Salah left reeling by ‘huge blow’ as pundit analyses Liverpool footage
Mohamed Salah “deserved” to be dropped to the bench by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp before their touchline row against West Ham on Saturday (27 April).
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, former Tottenham and England goalkeeper Paul Robinson admitted it was a “huge blow” for Salah, 31, to be relegated to a substitute role but was adamant that the Egypt international deserved it based on his recent outings.
TNT Sports footage showed the winger and Klopp enter a heated exchange as Salah was getting ready to come onto the pitch in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against the Hammers at the London Stadium.
Salah looked visibly angry at something the manager had said to him just before Michail Antonio’s 77th-minute equaliser and had to be ushered away by Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez.
Liverpool ace Salah’s ‘ego’ hit by starting XI axe – Robinson
Liverpool’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer has not been in his typically fine form in recent weeks having scored just once in his last five league outings.
Robinson suggested that the news of his removal from the starting XI may still have been “raw” at the time of the bust-up, but he insisted that his form warranted the drop.
“Salah was going through a bad spell, so he had to be dropped,” he told Football Insider.
“Klopp has a quality squad, so he dropped him.
“Salah clearly did not like being left out of the side but that’s between him and the manager.
“I had it as a player. I was left out the side when the manager’s thought my form wasn’t good enough – it’s a huge blow and a hit to the ego.
“It depends on how you react as a player.
“He could have found out just before the game so it would have still been raw for Salah.
“I don’t think they had an opportunity to talk about it – that’s what it looked like to me.
“There’s obviously something bad going on between them.
“He was benched because he’s not been good enough and he’s not been the same player since his injury from AFCON.
“He’s not had the same impact and he’s not been the same player.
“I’ll be completely honest though, I was surprised when I saw the teamsheets against West Ham.”
In other news, Arne Slot’s first-season Liverpool target revealed by top pundit.
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