Wayne Rooney has once again criticised Mohamed Salah, claiming the Liverpool star isn't providing sufficient support to Conor Bradley against opposition attacks. The Reds suffered their fifth defeat of the Premier League season when they were thrashed 3-0 by Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Liverpool have now endured four consecutive away defeats for the first time in 13 years and have shipped 17 goals across their 11 league fixtures. Erling Haaland and Nico Gonzalez put City 2-0 ahead before half-time, with the exceptional Jeremy Doku adding a third shortly after the hour mark.
The Belgian winger delivered one of his finest displays in a City jersey as Bradley was brought crashing back to reality following his brilliant showing against Real Madrid.
However, Rooney, speaking on The Overlap, insists Salah must contribute more defensively to assist his teammate and urged Virgil van Dijk to seize 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.'"
Rooney has recently criticised Salah once again. After Liverpool's 3-2 loss to Brentford last month, the ex-Everton player expressed concern over the body language of Van Dijk and Salah.
"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.
"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."