We are entering the era of the one-man wolf pack for these media big beasts and another aspirant in that field is Rio Ferdinand, fresh from his man-of-the-people mission to Washington DC as a Fifa spokes-model. Rio, who would also surely love to give Salah a platform on his Rio Ferdinand Presents channel, issued remarks from a sun-lounger, videoing himself saying: “Forget form, he’s a guy you could rely on, are we all agreed on that? Yes we are.” Are we? I’m going out on a limb here, maybe Arne Slot had thought about it and decided there were other players he could rely on more?
The Salah outburst is exactly the sort of fresh meat that the football discourse grinder needs, and there were opinion-having opportunities for all shapes and sizes of football pundit as a result. Michael Owen, continuing his surprising recent reinvention as a spiky and trenchant observer, said: “I can imagine how you feel. You’ve carried this team for a long time and won everything there is to win. But this is a team game and you simply can’t publicly say what you’ve said.”
Chris Sutton, delivering the old-school take, said: “Embarrassing from Mo Salah and disrespectful to his team-mates and his manager… thinks he’s too good to be benched sadly.” Good old Chris. Only 52, he’s younger than Liam Gallagher and Claudia Winkleman, but seems to speak to us from a bygone era. And long may he run.
Sky’s Monday Night Football and whatever Jamie says on it will give this saga another boost, which in turn will propel Salah further towards the Anfield exit and Saudi bazillions, or (much less likely) force Liverpool’s hand into starting him. Slot is obviously on the ropes but if Salah’s been egged on that he could win a him-or-me vs the manager then he’s been ill-advised. Slot’s not that busted-up yet, and this flash interview will go down as a memorable use of the modern media by Mo, enterprising as those quicksilver cut-ins from the right, but not as well-aimed as all those unstoppable curled finishes with the left.
