Merson: I'm on Salah's side - Liverpool would have won nothing without him
Paul Merson has defended Mohamed Salah following his claims that Liverpool have "thrown him under the bus", suggesting the club's trophy cabinet would be a lot emptier without the Egyptian.Salah's future has become a hot topic after he questioned why he had been left out of the team by Liverpool boss Arne Slot, despite the Reds being in a poor run of form, in an explosive interview following the 3-3 draw at Leeds.
The 33-year-old, who signed a contract extension at Anfield towards the end of last season, also suggested that his relationship with Slot had broken down and was subsequently left out of the squad that beat Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Salah does have at least one supporter in the Magic Man though, who breaks down who he believes is right and wrong in the saga.'I'm with Salah - Liverpool would've won nothing without him'"I'm on Mo Salah's side. I think he's gotten too much stick.
"Maybe he shouldn't have done what he did, but he's a human being. He's a winner. He's a legend. The figures he's put up on the wing - goals and assists - is off the charts. We'll never see that again in my opinion.
"All he's done is say he wants to play football. He's got the hump because he's not playing. How could you be slaughtered for that?
"There are other players in the team that could've been dropped and he's probably thinking 'we're not very good and I'm not playing'. I just think it's wrong."Liverpool wouldn't have won anything if it wasn't for Mo Salah. You take away his goals and assists and I don't think there's any trophies in that cabinet for a while."'Frustrated Salah can score from anywhere'"I don't believe, because he's won things before, that he should be playing. But he's not the only one who has been playing poorly. Mo Salah can score from anywhere. He's the best worst player.
"Some days he is the best player you've ever seen and others you think, 'really - what's the hype?' He can be having the worst game ever but it never affects him. He can always pop up."As a manager, when you're struggling, do you drop your best player? That's where I think he's got the hump and he's just come out and been honest.
"He could've left in January for free. He chose to stay. He's sitting there at 33 thinking, 'I want to play football, I'm coming towards the end of my career'. He isn't playing and he's gotten frustrated."'Salah is suffering without Alexander-Arnold'"You're bringing in players to play on the right wing that aren't better than Salah. You've got to remember that he has played with four or five full-backs already this season."I don't think they took that into consideration when Trent Alexander-Arnold left. I think they were lazy."I think they thought, 'well we've got [Conor] Bradley. We can play [Dominik] Szoboszlai there. We can play Curtis Jones there.' [Jeremie] Frimpong comes in, he's an attacking player more than a defensive player.
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Paul Merson believes Liverpool overlooked the impact losing Trent Alexander-Arnold would have on Salah
"When Alexander-Arnold was playing there, he used to get the ball on the halfway line and you had to go engage because he was the best passer in the Premier League. He would destroy you."Now all of a sudden, if the right-back gets the ball on the halfway line, teams are going, 'you can have it, we'll double up on Mo Salah'."I played with one of the best players England have ever had in John Barnes. I still hear people say he never produced for England. We used to kick off and two players would go and stand on him. It's exactly the same with Liverpool now."If Salah doesn't play well, Liverpool don't win. He's taken a lot of stick, but I don't think we've taken into consideration the full-backs playing behind him."'New contract a mistake but he isn't to blame for poor defending'"I said on transfer deadline day that I wouldn't have given him £400,00-per-week because your legs can go. His legs could've gone while Liverpool are winning every week and you wouldn't know."I read a report the other day that Liverpool are poor defensively because of Mo Salah for not tracking back. He never tracked back. Why would you want him to come back? Keep him up front and give him the ball.
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"Because the defence has been so bad, I think he's taken the brunt of it and it's been blown out of proportion."He's one of the greatest players ever in the Premier League, but now he's being talked about as if he's average at best."'Salah has done his team-mates a favour'"I think he's done the players a favour. We're not looking at them now. We're not looking at their performances. Everybody is talking about Mo Salah.
"They went to Inter Milan and got a very good result but before that they failed to beat Leeds and failed to beat Sunderland. When was the last time Liverpool failed to beat teams that had just gotten promoted? Let alone two."If they'd had won 5-0 and he's sitting on the bench, I think he keeps his mouth shut. When they're failing to beat newly promoted teams, you're getting the hump. Especially if you're not getting on against Leeds. You're talking about their go-to man."If Mo Salah doesn't get back in that team, then he's better off leaving."
