Mohamed Salah endured another tough afternoon in Liverpool's 3-0 defeat at Man City – and Wayne Rooney has once again taken aim at the forward
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney has taken another dig at Liverpool star Mohamed Salah
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Wayne Rooney has again taken aim at Mohamed Salah as he accused the Liverpool forward of not doing enough to help Conor Bradley against Manchester City. The Reds lost for a fifth time this season when they were beaten 3-0 at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool have now lost four away games in succession for the first time in 13 years and have conceded 17 goals in their 11 league matches. Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez fired City into a 2-0 lead at the break, before the outstanding Jeremy Doku added a third just after the hour mark.
The Belgian winger produced one of his best performances in a City shirt as Bradley was brought back down to earth after an outstanding display against Real Madrid.
But Rooney, speaking on The Overlap, believes Salah has to do more to help his team-mate out and called on Virgil van Dijk to take control of the situation.
"To be hard to beat, though, you need every player to work," he said. "I just think this season, teams have targeted down the right.
"Salah doesn't run back as much as...I know he hasn't always done it, but I think there's obvious concern for Liverpool down there because he is not getting back.
"Not having the consistency of a right-back playing every game – is it three right-backs they've played this season?
"I think teams are targeting down that right-hand side - City did it. I felt sorry for (Conor) Bradley yesterday, he needed help.
"(Ryan) Gravenberch is doing as much as he can to get across and help him but then there's spaces in the middle.
"Salah actually, last season at City was probably the hardest I have ever seen him work. He got back and he did defend, yesterday he didn't.
“There's big gaps and holes and that's where they look open. The manager has to show authority on that or Salah has to be responsible. (He) Van Dijk should be telling Salah 'you should be getting back in'."
It is not the first time in recent weeks that Rooney has taken aim at Salah.
Following the 3-2 defeat to Brentford last month, the former Everton man said the body language of Van Dijk and the forward was a 'big concern'.
"No-one has seen this coming, it's hit them quick, it's hit them hard and I think they're struggling to find a way out of it," he said.
Liverpool's players stand dejected following Manchester City's third and final goal at the Etihad Stadium
Liverpool's players have been criticised after their defeat to Manchester City
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"This is a time where the manager and the leaders in the team need to figure it out very quickly.
"Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, they've signed new deals but I don't think they've really led that team this season.
"I think body language tells you a lot, and I think we're seeing slightly different body language from the two of them.
“They are the top two players in that team and if their body language is not right, that affects everyone else.
"I might be wrong on this, but if I was a Liverpool fan or the manager, that would be a big concern for me."