Mohamed Salah has tainted his Liverpool legacy after taking a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo's playbook - there is no way back

Salah finished fourth in the final vote for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, which was a fair reflection of his stellar contribution to Liverpool's Premier League title success in 2024-25. Ever-present under Slot in the Dutchman's first year at the helm, Salah racked up a combined total of 47 goals and assists, the most ever recorded in a 38-game season.

His ruthless finishing and dazzling playmaking skills made the difference week in, week out, and in August, he deservedly became the first man to ever win the PFA Players' Player of the Year award three times. But Salah hasn't come close to matching those heights in the first half of the current campaign.

In fact, it could easily be argued that he has become a liability. The former Roma and Chelsea forward has only scored five goals in 19 appearances across all competitions, and even more worryingly, has been almost completely anonymous in Liverpool's build-up play and defensive phases. 

There are two key reasons for that. The first is that Trent Alexander-Arnold's summer move to Real Madrid has hit Salah harder than anyone could have predicted. Without a constant supply of world-class service down the right flank from the England international, Salah has looked completely lost.

Secondly, Liverpool have also been unable to cover for Salah's refusal to track back without pressing monsters Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota. The club's decision to sell Diaz to Bayern Munich in the summer window has aged poorly, and the tragic death of Jota has left a void that new additions such as Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike have yet to fill.

There have been widespread calls for Salah to be taken out of the team throughout the season, which Slot largely resisted initially. He was restricted to late Champions League cameos against Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt, but started all of Liverpool's first 12 Premier League games.

Slot showed Salah a great deal of loyalty based on the mutual trust they had built up last term, especially as results took a major turn for the worse. The Reds endured a run of nine defeats in 12 games across all competitions, with a 3-0 home loss to struggling Nottingham Forest marking the lowest point.

Liverpool dropped to 11th in the table after that result, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal after just 12 matches. Their title defence ended that day, and Slot was, in the eyes of many, hanging on to his job by a thread. Shoring up the weak right side that opponents had been exploiting at will was the first obvious step towards steadying the ship, and that meant taking Salah out of the firing line, which Slot did for the trip to West Ham on November 30.

Sure enough, the Reds produced a much-improved display to win 2-0, and Salah didn't even get off the bench. He did get a full 45 minutes as a half-time substitute in the 1-1 draw with Sunderland at Anfield three days later, but found himself back in the dugout for the duration of Liverpool's 3-3 thriller against Leeds on Saturday.

There was nothing much wrong with the attack at Elland Road; it was a series of familiar defensive mistakes that cost Slot's side. Liverpool may well have lost the game had Salah been on and in the same half-hearted mood he has been all season. So when he accused Slot of throwing him "under the bus" after the game, it was impossible to feel any sympathy towards the Egypt international.

After the humiliating loss to Forest, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher urged Salah to front up to the media as one of the most experienced and respected figures in the dressing room. “On the back of all these Liverpool defeats, it's always Virgil van Dijk who comes out,” Carragher told Sky Sports. “I only ever hear Salah speak when he gets man of the match or he needs a new contract. I'd like to see Mo Salah come out as one of the leaders, one of the legends of Liverpool, come out and speak for the team. It shouldn't always be the captain.”

Salah finally came out at the weekend, but only for self-serving reasons, and couldn't resist signing off with a petty swipe at Carragher.

"I couldn't believe that I'm sitting on the bench for 90 minutes! The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I'm very, very disappointed to be fair,” he said. “I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I'm sitting on the bench and I don't know why. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far, I am on the bench for three games, so I can't say they keep the promise. After what I have done for the club, it really hurts. Tomorrow, Carragher is going to go for me again and again, and that’s fine.”

Carragher was only asking Salah to take a bit of responsibility and issue a rallying cry, which would have meant a lot to the Liverpool faithful and Slot. But Salah clearly doesn't care about the club's current plight. That 'woe is me' attitude smacks of arrogance and a lack of self-awareness. The board may have promised that Salah would remain their main man during contract talks, but it had to have been conditional on him maintaining his standards. Now that they have plummeted, he has no right to claim any special treatment.

Salah also committed the unforgivable crime of disrespecting his manager. “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don't have any relationship,” he said of Slot. “I don't know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn't want me in the club. I don't think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club. I don't have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone but I earned my position. If I am somewhere else, everybody would go to the media and defend the players. I am the only one in this situation.”

The only one who has been thrown under the bus is Slot. Salah must have the memory of a goldfish, because Slot was his most fierce ally amid a barrage of criticism between August and November, and snapped back angrily when TNT Sports presenter Lynsey Hipgrave pressed him on Salah's importance before Liverpool's 3-2 loss at Brentford: “Should I have to explain or do his numbers speak for themselves? Mo has been so influential for this club since he’s been here and since I’ve been here.”

Slot had also been pleased with Salah's reaction to being dropped, describing him as a "top professional", but will surely now be re-evaluating that assessment. Despite his pleas to the contrary, Salah obviously thinks he's bigger than the club. He's shown his true colours, undermining Slot in the process, and the Liverpool boss now has to affirm his authority.

So many players have been guilty of underperforming, from Van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate to Alexis Mac Allister and £116 million ($155m) man Florian Wirtz, while Isak and Milos Kerkez currently fall into the bracket of major transfer flops, and Slot has been forced to shuffle his pack consistently. But Salah is the only one who has thrown his toys out of the pram. He hasn't been the only problem, but he is now the main one.

Salah has taken a leaf out of Cristiano Ronaldo's book with his ill-advised outburst. When the legendary Portugal striker lost his place in the Manchester United team under Erik ten Hag, he reacted by sitting down for an explosive interview with his insufferable No.1 fan, Piers Morgan, which sent shockwaves through Old Trafford.

Ronaldo said he felt "betrayed" by the club and admitted to having no respect for Ten Hag, whom he believed was trying to push him out of the club. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner unloaded many months' worth of bitterness and self-pity, all the while neglecting to acknowledge the fact that his performance levels and output in the final third had dipped significantly.

In that instance, all bridges were burned. Emboldened by his stellar record across two spells in Manchester, Ronaldo, then 37, wasn't prepared to knuckle down and try to regain favour, so he backed United into a corner, and his contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent. It seems that Salah is now sending a similar message to Liverpool's hierarchy.

He said when asked about whether his situation can be fixed: “I cannot say it is impossible, but from what I feel, I have done so much for the club, I love the fans and the club so much, but I don’t know what is going to happen next.” In other words, the ball is in Slot's court. Just like Ronaldo, Salah is failing to look inwards, so an acrimonious parting of ways is inevitable if Liverpool don't pander to him.

This does not seem like a push for the exits from Salah, but rather a power play. He wants more appreciation and believes the underlying threat of a possible transfer will scare Liverpool into putting him back on a pedestal. If that is indeed the case, Salah's plan will blow up in his face.

There's a good chance he won't play for the club again, because Slot and the board have already taken decisive action, with it reported that Salah will not be included in the travelling squad when Liverpool fly to Italy take on Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday. It's a massive call for a massive game, but without question the right one.

If the Reds put in a strong showing against last season's European finalists, there will be no clamour for a Salah recall for this weekend's home clash with Brighton either, which is their last fixture before he heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with Egypt. Slot will probably be glad to have some space from the disgruntled frontman, and Liverpool should benefit as a collective without this distracting sideshow. 

In the back of his mind, Salah may be thinking he can outlast Slot, but according to The Athletic, the former Feyenoord manager still retains FSG's full backing. The report adds that long-term suitors from the Saudi Pro League still have a "strong interest" in Salah, and Liverpool are in a position to demand a ridiculous six-figure fee after tying him to fresh terms in the summer.

There may be nothing left for Salah at Anfield when he returns from AFCON, and he'll have no one to blame but himself. Liverpool have no reason to keep paying Salah for the player he is now, because he's of no use to anyone.