Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce, who was fired by England after one game in charge, has launched an astonishing rant aimed at Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
Ahead of Mohamed Salah being left out of the Liverpool starting XI against West Ham United at the weekend, Carragher suggested that the player's legs might have gone amid his poor run of form. Arne Slot could recall the Egyptian to the team against Sunderland today, but there is no doubt that this season has not gone to plan for him.
However, Allardyce has blasted Carragher's claim, saying that there is no way of knowing for sure whether Salah is feeling the impact of several seasons at the top of the game, or whether this is just a bad spell.
"Stop it. He should know better," Allardyce blasted on Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, in partnership with BOYLE Sports.
"He should really 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, you know, '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.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot speaks to Mohamed Salah on the sideline
Arne Slot has admitted it was 'not nice' to drop Mohamed Salah against West Ham (Image: Getty Images)
"How does he know anyway? What does he know? He doesn't train with him, he doesn't watch him train, he sees him play.
"He might not be doing so well, but that's like many of the Liverpool players. Alexander Isak hasn't played well, so have his legs gone already?"
Slot said that dropping Salah was a difficult decision, but one with the games to come in mind. The festive schedule is usually the most grueling of a campaign.
But with the Reds having won well at the London Stadium, the Liverpool boss faces another tough call ahead of Sunderland and then Leeds United.
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"The catalyst for Liverpool at the very start of the run in 2018 with Jurgen Klopp was Alisson, Van Dijk and Salah," Carragher said on CBS Sports last midweek, when the Reds lost 4-1 at Anfield against PSV.
"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."
Liverpool.com says: The team selection from Slot today will be fascinating. Salah probably doesn't deserve to come back in, but if he does start, it would be no shock. Either starting or coming off the bench, he will have a point to prove.