Steven Gerrard has claimed parts of Mo Salah‘s interview were “wrong” and suggested Virgil van Dijk needs to intervene for the good of Liverpool.
Nearly everyone has given their two cents on Salah’s bombshell interview, but few people’s words carry as much weight as those of Gerrard.
The former Liverpool captain told TNT Sports: “He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect. He won’t sit out of the team, which I respect.
“The couple of lines about throwing people under the bus [is] wrong. He needs to reverse a little bit away from that.”
Gerrard here is referring to Salah saying: “It seems like the club is throwing me under the bus.”
The Egyptian has since been left out of Liverpool’s squad to play Inter and suggested the upcoming match against Brighton could be his last for the Reds.
Gerrard continued: “He needs to deal with that with the manager. This needs Virgil van Dijk to go, ‘How are we sorting this out for the benefit of not the club, or the team, but the fans?’
“I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it. I lived it with Suarez when he fell out with Brendan (Rodgers). I’ve seen it all.
“I’ve been there myself from a personal point of view. I did the Salah statement in 30 seconds against United when I got sent off, so no one’s perfect.
“We’ve all had head losses as players. We’ve all done emotional things and I know in time when this all calms, Mo will go, ‘I shouldn’t have said that, I maybe shouldn’t have said that. I was a bit emotional, I was a bit hasty’.
“But at the end of the day, Liverpool Football Club needs Mo Salah back playing well, back scoring goals, because he is the best player, the best scorer and he will help them get out of this.
“If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”
What Virgil van Dijk has said about Mo Salah
As captain, there is no doubt that Van Dijk carries influence in the Liverpool dressing room.
He and Salah have played together for eight years now and is better-placed than any to try and mediate the situation. However, he doesn’t feel it is necessarily his role.
“I don’t think I’m the one to speak about if someone has to apologise for anything,” Van Dijk told Prime Video.
“I think it’s him airing his feelings over the last couple of days, and that’s something that the club has to deal with, and obviously we as well.
“The task was that we have responsibility, not only to ourselves, but to the whole football club and to all the fans in the world to perform.
“So the focus was there, nothing else. Nothing has changed and he trained as well.”
