Sam Allardyce has criticised Jamie Carragher over what he called an 'absolutely pathetic statement' after the Liverpool legend suggested Mohamed Salah's legs had gone. The former Premier League manager said Carragher 'should know better' than to rush to such conclusions.
Carragher told CBS Sports: 'The catalyst for Liverpool at the very start of the run in 2018 with Jurgen Klopp was Alisson, Van Dijk, and Salah. Alisson's injured a lot now, he doesn't play so much. But you watch Van Dijk now, not the same player, and Mo Salah looks like his legs have gone.'
Allardyce responded on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: 'Stop it. He should know better. That's an absolutely pathetic statement, but he's good at them, isn't he? He's good at just throwing it out there for a bit of popularity? To keep himself on the front end of it. That's a disgrace. His legs haven't gone. How can his legs go from what he did last year, having the summer off, and then his legs go this year? How can that happen? It doesn't happen overnight.'
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown also defended Salah, saying: 'Salah's more comfortable playing when Liverpool are playing well. Salah's attributes are not going to change; he's still as dangerous when he gets the ball as any other time. He's never really done all the running back anyway. Salah's not getting the right ball at the right time, or he's getting less of the ball, but to say that his quality isn't there, that's not right.'
Liverpool boss Arne Slot dropped Salah to the bench for the 2-0 win over West Ham, preferring Cody Gakpo and Florian Wirtz. Slot said Salah had responded well: 'He was very supportive for his teammates, handled himself really well. Mo is so disciplined, knows what he has to do to stay fit. No matter if he plays well, doesn't play or if he doesn't play he will always be that top professional.'
