Gary Neville has opened up on the touchline that saw Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah clash with manager Jurgen Klopp this weekend.
Liverpool’s title challenge was dealt another major blow on Saturday when they were held to a point by West Ham and drew 2-2 despite leading the match and needing a win to keep their faint title hopes alive.
The Reds’ season – and Klopp’s farewell tour – is unraveling before their eyes, with what was a potential Quadruple now looking like it will only be a Carabao Cup in terms of trophies won from the last season under the German.
Their problems came to light at the London Stadium last weekend when Klopp and Salah became visibly angry with each other before Salah was introduced as a substitute. Darwin Nunez had to step in and separate the two most important players of Liverpool’s last decade.
Neville, speaking about his last episode Air sports podcast, gave his assessment of the ordeal and, despite his loyalty to Manchester United, was not happy to see the Liverpool pair fall out.
Gary Neville has given his verdict on the feud between Mohamed Salah (left) and Jurgen Klopp (right)
The Reds pair were involved in a heated argument before the striker’s introduction to the match against West Ham
Salah warned reporters that there would be ‘fire’ if he spoke about the incident immediately after the match
‘Unpleasant when you see it [that between] a great manager and a great player,” he said. ‘I had that a few times at Manchester United.
‘There is only one winner, but the problem is that the manager leaves, which helps Salah a bit.
‘I think there could be a problem if this continued for the rest of the season. Two enormous personalities and characters.’
During the clash, which took place with just over 10 minutes to play, Salah was seen waving his arms, pointing at Klopp and continuing to berate his manager before Nunez, who was also brought on at the same time, intervened.
The pair had initially shaken hands before Salah began to express his frustrations and the situation became heated.
Afterwards, Salah told waiting reporters in the mixed zone of the London Stadium: “When I speak, there will be a fire.”
Klopp insisted the line had already been drawn under the incident after a full-time dressing room discussion, with footage showing the Egyptian blanking his boss on the pitch after the match.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, writing about X, also gave his assessment of what happened.
Neville suggested there would only be one winner from the clash as he had experienced the same thing during his time as a player
The incident saw Salah wave his arms and words were exchanged before Darwin Nunez intervened to separate the two
“Mo Salah and Jurgen Klopp are both LFC legends,” he posted. ‘We don’t have to choose sides!
‘Salah is frustrated and angry with Jurgen for not playing and didn’t want to fully embrace the boss at the time, Jurgen understandably objected.
‘Mo was crazy with his comment in the emotion [mixed] zone, but let’s let them figure it out for themselves and enjoy the last few weeks together.
‘They have helped each other enormously in everything that has been achieved at the club!’
Neville, meanwhile, highlighted that there is a problem with Salah’s play, with the forward dropped to the bench for the game against West Ham, with Harvey Elliott instead starting in his place on the right of Liverpool’s attack.
The forward has struggled for form since returning from the African Cup of Nations, disappointing against Everton in midweek as the Reds lost 2-0 to their local rivals.
The pundit highlighted Salah’s struggles in the game as he suggested what could be the problem with his performances, comparing him to another Premier League star.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said Salah was ‘foolish’ for making the comment but suggested the pair would settle their differences
Salah has struggled with his form of late and dropped out before the match at the London Stadium
“I was at the Merseyside derby and have played a lot of games against Liverpool recently but Salah is not at his level,” he said. “He was a great player and is a great player but he was hugely wrong in the Merseyside derby.
“I mean, he didn’t touch the ball in the first half. What stood out was that he was right in front of me against Mykolenko. I don’t remember him getting the ball. I think we showed that after about thirty minutes he had about five to six touches.
“Salah just hit a wall. Be careful, there was a player here [in the north London derby] called Son [Heung-min] which I think probably about 18 months ago he hit a brick wall where he looked like he was gone and he was struggling.
“These players play so much football, they play so consistently and Salah has almost always been there, for six or seven years. There just comes a point where you need a break.”