MO SALAH picked his moment.
If a player wants to take their manager on in public, do it when the fans are feeling raw and angry.
Even 72 hours on, it is hard to see, for certain, who has thrown whom “under the bus” – although clear that Liverpool’s season is in danger of running completely off the road.
And while Salah might think his attempt to dethrone Arne Slot was a winning move, he might want to ask a few others who found out, the hard way, that power-plays can backfire.
Of course, that also depends on the status of the manager involved.
Over more than a decade, Manchester United discovered that when they said “it’s me or him”, they were far more expendable than they realised.
THAT’S SAL, FOLKS
Mo Salah axed from Liverpool squad for Inter clash after fiery interview
BEAUTY
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First Jaap Stam, the Dutch powerhouse, who made the mistake of revealing in his autobiography that he had been illegally tapped up by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Stam felt he was “sold like a cow” to Lazio. The United hierarchy backed the Scot.
As they did when Roy Keane, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney tried to call the shots.
Beckham’s decision to show the world the scar above his left eye after a furious Fergie kicked a stray boot at him amid a dressing room tear-up in 2003 was the beginning of the United end for Goldenballs, out and at Real Madrid within six months.
Two years later, Keane’s infamous MUTV interview, monstering the weak mentality he identified and naming and shaming John O’Shea, Kieran Richardson, Daren Fletcher and Alan Smith, blew up the club.
Fergie demanded the recording be canned and destroyed, accusing his captain of a “savage” act. Within six weeks, the Irishman was at Celtic.
Maybe the lessons were ignored. In 2010 it was Rooney’s turn, his head turned by a big bucks offer from the “noisy neighbours”, confronting the manager over the failure to replace Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.
Citing “irreconcilable differences”, the schism went public, only for Fergie to bring his star to heel.
United’s stance has continued since. Even Ronaldo realised that, when his issues with Erik ten Hag resulted in his second spell at the club being cut short, while Ruben Amorim has been backed over Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and others.
City took a similar stance, supporting Roberto Mancini when his fractured relationships with both Tevez and Mario Balotelli were played out in front of the cameras.
At least Salah hasn’t taken a physical pop at Slot. As far as we know.
He was, though, entirely aware of the hand grenade he was dropping – one that has divided the club and the fanbase with no place for a safe middle ground.
Yet at other clubs, it was a very different response – especially at the one that fought as United’s biggest domestic rivals from the start of the Roman Abramovich era.
John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba were HUGE personalities.
Far too powerful for “Big Phil” – Luis Felipe Scolari – Andre Villas Boas and even Rafa Benitez.
All three tried to impose their will on the Blues dressing room, forgetting the senior players had a direct line to the bloke who made the real decisions.
Even Mourinho, the most popular, and successful, manager in Chelsea’s history, discovered that in December 2015.
The Portuguese had won his third Prem crown seven months earlier but tensions with his squad had led to full-blown internal mutiny.
The final straw was a defeat at Leicester which left them 16th, with Mourinho talking of “betrayal” by his players.
He was sacked the next day, during the club’s Christmas party, with the reason memorably described as the “palpable discord” between the Special One and his squad.
Before that, Alan Shearer’s 1999 grudge with Ruud Gullit festered to the point where they could barely stand the sight of each other, with the decision to drop the England skipper for a rain-lashed Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland sending the Dutchman down the drain with the run-off water.
Slot will be looking to those above him to make clear where their loyalties lie.
Any backsliding by the Anfield board will be a signal that the sands beneath his feet are slipping away. Back him and Salah will push to go next month. The crisis can only be resolved by a casualty.
S-TARK DIFFERENCE
Sean Dyche on James Tarkowski, 2018: “Defending is a dying art, and I think it’s a massively important part of the game.
“You can ask coaches. The one thing they’re struggling for is defenders who can defend and want to defend.”
Sean Dyche on James Tarkowski, 2025: “Tarkowski barges a player in the back and nothing is done about it, which is a strange decision.”
Nottingham Forest’s latest whinge to PGMOL, 2025: Utter nonsense.
GUNNERS STILL GOLDEN
Arsenal still have the best team in the Premier League. And the deepest squad.
A last-kick defeat at Villa Park doesn’t change any of that – even if David Raya nearly dug a hole with the punches of sheer frustration he slammed into the turf as Emi Buendia celebrated.
But titles are won by teams with the most guts and courage when the going gets tough.
We will discover if that is the Gunners over the next few weeks.
DR-AWFUL
At least we know who England and Scotland will be playing next summer, where and when, too.
After all, that is what was actually important.
But only after a garish monstrosity of a draw “show” that did what many will have felt impossible – lowered Fifa’s reputation even further.
Two hours featuring a collection of contenders for your “worst dinner party guest list ever”.
No thanks. Not ever again. Please.
BARK AND HIDE?
Now we’ve seen the Independent Football Regulator bark, with the promise that rogue owners will be brought to heel.
But if fans are to believe the IFR is more than a talking shop, they will need to see it bite, too. The first test is unlikely to be long coming.
KING’S RANSON
Neymar was always expected to be the natural inheritor of Pele’s status in Brazil.
It hasn’t turned out that way for the injury-plagued striker, even after his return to their shared first club Santos following his spell in Saudi Arabia.
But now Neymar, 33, has acquired the rights to the entire Pele brand in a £15.5m deal.
If you can’t be the king, buy the king.
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