Wayne Rooney says he will deny Mohamed Salah an emotional Anfield farewell and insists he was “nowhere near the ground” on Sunday after his comments about Liverpool’s style of play.
Salah took to social media following Friday night’s 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa and made some direct comments about the Reds’ tactics which are seen as a rip-off by manager Arne Slot, saying Liverpool must return to the “iron football” that has become a trademark of his predecessor Jurgen Klopp.
Salah has already announced that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season with his next club still unknown.
He will say goodbye to the fans who have adored him for the past nine years when Liverpool host Brentford on Sunday but Rooney believes he should not be in the matchday squad.
He told the Wayne Rooney Show on the BBC: “I find it sad at the end of what he’s done and what he’s achieved at Liverpool. It’s not the point for him to go out and aim for another slot.
“He wants to play football with a strong rhythm, so basically he says he wants Jurgen Klopp’s football. Now I don’t think Mo Salah can cope with that kind of football.
“If I was Arne Slott, I wouldn’t have him near the pitch in the last game. I had it with Alex Ferguson. I had a disagreement and a disagreement and in Alex Ferguson’s last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the team for that reason.
“He almost dropped a bomb and said he doesn’t trust him and doesn’t believe in Arne Slot and he almost threw his teammates who will be there next season and let them deal with it and put them in place.
Salah underestimates the manager of Liverpool Slot with an explosion
Salah has scored 257 goals for Liverpool, helping them win six major trophies, but he has become the head of the slot this season and, in December, told the media that his relationship with the Dutchman had broken down.
He went further over the weekend, questioning the current method.
Salah wrote on X: “I have seen this club go from doubters to believers, from believers to champions. It has taken hard work and I have always done everything I can to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that.
“Our defeat again this season was very painful and not what our fans deserved. I want to see Liverpool go back to being an attacking team that the enemies fear and then go back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football that I know how to play and it is the nature that needs to be restored and preserved forever. It cannot be discussed and everyone should join it.
“Winning some games here and there is not what Liverpool should be. All teams win games.”
“Liverpool will always be a club that means a lot to me and my family. I want to see it succeed long after I’ve moved on.
“As I always say, getting into the Champions League next season is one of the few and I will do everything I can to make that happen.”
Salah only thinks about himself – Rooney
Rooney accused Salah, who has only scored seven Premier League goals this season, of being selfish and suggested it would tarnish his Premier League legacy.
He added: “I think Salah is trying to justify himself and make himself feel better because he has had a terrible season.
“So I think he was only thinking about himself in what he did on those two occasions. It’s a shame and the fans will be on his side, but I think if you look deep and you’ve been in the dressing room in a similar situation, Mo Salah knows exactly what he’s doing.
“That’s your boss, you can’t publicly disrespect him twice the way he has and run away. And that’s when I was Arne Slot, I should have pulled the rank and said, listen, you’re not getting anywhere on Saturday, whether you like it or not. I really doubt he will, but I think he should.”
“Yes, he deserves a good sentence, but does he deserve just this? It’s the second time he’s done it. It’s a shame to see one of the best players in the Premier League leave the Premier League in this situation.”
