Mohamed Salah’s parting shot at Arne Slot has backfired—at least in the eyes of multiple Premier League winners.
Among Liverpool’s fanbase, there has been more of a nuanced response to Salah’s sharp-tongued social media post which lambasted the club’s style of play under Slot and demanded a return to the “heavy metal” approach espoused by his managerial predecessor Jürgen Klopp.
Many fundamentally agree with Salah’s complaints. Liverpool have veered from woefully exposed to determinedly grim while limping towards a fifth-placed finish—if they can hold on to that position, of course. Whatever the outgoing forward said, the club’s third all-time top scorer will always inspire some blind support at a club he has served so well for the best part of a decade.
There is no danger of any rose-tinted glasses for Wayne Rooney. The former Everton and Manchester United forward is no great fan of Liverpool. However, the five-time Premier League champion called upon his own experiences under the legendary stewardship of Sir Alex Ferguson—rather than any bitter club bias—to explain why Salah should be “nowhere near” Anfield for Liverpool’s final game of the season on Sunday.
Wayne Rooney: The Same Happened to Me
“If I was Arne Slot, I’d have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game,” Rooney told his self-title podcast, harking back to his own falling out with Ferguson in the summer of 2013. “I had it with Alex Ferguson. I had a disagreement and fallout and at Alex Ferguson’s last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the squad for that reason.”
Rooney’s past experience is slightly different to Salah’s current situation. Ferguson and his striker had clashed over a transfer request which was refused, prompting the outgoing manager to snub Rooney on his farewell tour. In Salah’s scenario, he is the one leaving Liverpool, not Slot (probably), so any omission on Sunday would rob him of a send-off.
“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 come out and aim another dig at Slot,” Rooney added.
“He wants to play heavy metal football, so he’s basically saying he wants Jürgen Klopp football. Now I don’t think Mo Salah can cope with that type of football any more. I think his legs have gone to play at that high tempo and high intensity.
“He’s almost just dropped the grenade and said he doesn’t trust and believe in Arne Slot and almost thrown his teammates who are going to be there next season and let them have to deal with that as well and put them into a position.”
Gary Neville, Rooney’s former United teammate, used the same explosive analogy. “Mo Salah is walking out of the door and as he’s just literally sort of about to get to the door and open it and walk out, he’s pulled the pin out of a grenade and lobbed it back into the room,” the eight-time top-flight champion told his imaginatively titled podcast.
However, Neville flatly ruled out the prospect of Salah getting shunned this weekend. “He will play in the final game because he’s done too much,” the retired defender explained. “The idea of Liverpool looking petty and then now not playing him next week and forbidding him his final farewell would cause the club serious damage.
“They’re going to have to suck on the lemon this week.”
Issue Extends Beyond Salah
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) May 17, 2026
For Rooney and Neville, Salah’s outburst exposed a series of cracks running throughout the entire locker room.
“I think Salah’s trying to vindicate himself and make himself feel better because he’s had a very poor season,” Rooney argued. “So I think he’s been very selfish in what he’s done in the two occasions. It’s a shame and fans will be on his side, but I think when you look deeper into it and having been in a dressing room in a similar situation to that as well, Mo Salah knows exactly what he’s doing.”
The former striker went so far as to level the ultimate insult at some of Liverpool’s roster: a lack of effort:
“I don’t feel right or good saying this, some players look like they’ve downed tools and that’s a big problem if you see that or you feel that for the manager.”
Several Liverpool players were spotted ‘liking’ Salah’s incendiary Instagram post in a supposed show of support. Salah underscored his own lofty standing within the locker room by posting a picture of himself having dinner with three of Liverpool’s first-choice starters in the aftermath of his outburst.
Neville shared Rooney’s concerns. “Those three or four that are in there that have liked his comment are the ones that I’d be thinking, are they with me?” he asked. Slot may be pondering the same question.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mohamed Salah Eviscerated by Premier League Legends for Arne Slot Attack.
