Salah tried to do ‘maximum damage’ – Every word Jamie Carragher said on Liverpool outburst

Robin Bairner

• 8 Dec 2025 14:50 CST
• 8 min read

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Mohamed Salah has tried to do “maximum damage” to Arne Slot and Liverpool, Jamie Carragher has claimed in an extensive attack on the Egypt international.

Salah claimed on Saturday that he had been “thrown under a bus” by the Anfield club after he was dropped for a third successive match.

His comments sparked a huge reaction, which has led to the 33-year-old not being called to the Liverpool squad that will travel to Inter Milan on Champions League duty on Tuesday night.

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It also attracted criticism from Jamie Carragher, who spent minutes dissecting Salah’s claims.

Speaking on ‘Monday Night Football’ on Sky Sports, Carragher claimed:

• Salah’s comments were designed to do maximum damage to the club
• The attacker has “thrown his club under a bus”… twice
• Arne Slot was right to drop him for three successive Premier League games
• Salah was known as “the guy who failed at Chelsea before he joined Liverpool”
• That he has not criticised Salah for his on-field behaviour but simply his off-field attitude
• Salah’s legacy at Liverpool will not be affected by his outburst

Every word Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football about Mo Salah

“I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game.

“Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don’t think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed with him and his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position.

“He did that 12 months ago, and I called him out on this show about it. He played on the heartstrings of the supporters. Liverpool were top of the league. He’d scored the winning goal at Southampton. That was the time to come out and put pressure on the ownership. So for the rest of the season, you’d have banners in the crowd: ‘Give Mo his dough!’

“He’s chosen this weekend to do this now, and he’s waited, I think, for a bad result for Liverpool. They conceded a last-minute goal. Everyone in the club feels like they’re in the gutter at the moment. And he’s chosen that time to go for the manager. He’s trying to get him sacked, that’s the way I felt about it.

“The one line that stands out for me is: “Thrown under the bus.” He’s tried to throw the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months with the situations I’ve just mentioned.

“Going after the owners initially – owners who have been paying him hundreds of thousands of pounds for six years – he’s complained a year ago because they’ve not given him a contract at the age of 32.

“With the manager right now, he should be doing as much as he can to get out the worst run of results they can since the 1950s, and he hasn’t done that.

“When I thought about it over the weekend, and I put myself in his position or put myself in Mo Salah’s position, I’m not Mo Salah. Mo Salah is a world-renowned player, who is famous around the world, and should those players be treated differently? I think they should be treated differently.

“And when you think of the players in that bracket over the last eight years, I would say Messi, Ronaldo, Mbappe. I wouldn’t put Salah alongside them for what he’s done for Liverpool, but he’s very close, a legendary figure. And all those players get a privilege – exactly the same one Mo Salah gets at Liverpool. He doesn’t have to defend, he doesn’t have to chase back. So that’s the privilege he has with Liverpool.

“But when we’re talking about throwing people under the bus, he’s thrown the Liverpool right-back under the bus for eight years. Can you imagine playing behind him for eight years? But we accept it because he’s a superstar and he’s scored 250 goals and he’s given me as a Liverpool supporter some of the greatest nights of my life watching him and what he’s done. And that’s why we accept it.

“You also think of the ego of these types of players – Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Mo Salah. I think they have a feeling that the success of a football club is down to them. I’ve no problem with that because I think it drives them on to score more goals and get more success. And it benefits Liverpool.

“It then becomes a problem when you’re in a situation like this. When Mo Salah’s talking about more goals he’s scored – ‘I’ve got more goals than anyone in the Premier League’, ‘What I did last season’ – he’s always speaking about himself. One thing I want to remind Mo Salah of, is that before he came to Liverpool, he was known as the guy who failed at Chelsea. That’s just a fact. He’d never won a major trophy.

“He’s also the greatest player his country have ever had in Egypt. Egypt, in the Africa Cup of Nations, are the most successful nation. Mo Salah has never won the AFCON. That’s not me trying to put him down as a player – I’ve just said he’s one of the best players in the world over the last eight years, very few better – but what it tells Mo Salah and his agent is that it’s not about an individual.

“You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool. You haven’t really won anything with Egypt. All that’s telling you is that no matter how good a player you are, you need help from your team-mates, your manager and fans. And I think it’s important that he remembers that.

“When he’s talking after the game in the mixed zone, all it’s about is ‘me, me, me’. ”

Carragher: I never criticise Salah on the pitch

Carragher also had to defend himself from the claim that he ‘goes for’ Salah, which the forward himself claimed.

“Have I ever criticised Mo Salah on the pitch?” Carragher said.

The presenter replied: “A couple of weeks ago, you said his legs had gone.”

Carragher responded: “I don’t class that as criticism. That’s something that happens to every player. I’ve never criticised him for not working back, I’ve never criticised him for going for games without scoring, I’ve never criticised him when he’s not passed to someone when he should. He’s an absolute legend of the club and what you get from him, you have to put up with certain things.

“I think some of the criticism this season of Mo Salah has been excessive, and I’ve said that.

“But I will go after Mo Salah when he tries to throw my club under the bus off the pitch and just think about himself. So I certainly will do that.”

Carragher defends Slot for dropping Salah

“Let’s understand Arne Slot. In the run of three games before the last three games, Arne Slot has conceded 10 goals in three games. One of them against PSV, Salah was embarrassing in terms of the challenge he put in.

“He then goes to West Ham away, Nuno team, big on set pieces. What do we need to do? We need to keep a clean sheet. That’s all he cares about. What’s the one thing you want to do as a manager? You want to take out the one player in your team who you’ve allowed not to defend. That happens.

“You play Sunderland at home. I would’ve played him, but it’s understandable, you keep the same team. He brought him on at half-time.

“You then go to the away game. OK? West Ham away and Leeds away. Why would you bring him on when you’re winning those games? You don’t need him. You need not to concede. If you bring Salah on, you’re bringing on a guy who can’t defend set pieces and who doesn’t run back.

“The one time I wanted to be really critical of Salah on the pitch and I held back – and as I said before, I’ve never been critical of him on the pitch. He is a legend of the club, his legacy will still be there. If he doesn’t score another goal or make another assist for this club, I don’t care. He’s been amazing.

“Where he really let himself down in my eyes this season was in Frankfurt and another game where there’s a guy who signed for Liverpool, who needs a goal more than anyone: Florian Wirtz. Instead of just being a great player, be a great for a great ambassador and roll that ball to him and give him an easy tap in, go over to him, give him a hug and a kiss and say: ‘You know what? You’re the guy to take his club forward. I don’t need any more goals.’

“I’ve seen John Barnes at the end, I’ve seen Ian Rush at the end, I’ve seen Steven Gerrard at the end, do you think they were the same players as in their pomp? Of course they weren’t. Do the supporters think any differently of them now? No, they think they’re the top five or six players that ever played for Liverpool. And the same will be said of Salah.

“So in terms of on the pitch, the one criticism I’ve got is that he should help the other players, help Florian Wirtz, help Alexander Isak, don’t be obsessed with your own numbers.

“I think the club have made the right decision with not taking him abroad now. And whether he’ll play for Liverpool again, I don’t know. I hope he does cause he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had, but if he’s going to make statements like that, who knows?”