Jamie Carragher's grim verdict of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has been labelled 'disgraceful' by former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce, who went on a blazing tirade about the Sky Sports pundit.
Salah is enduring a difficult season and has regressed from a phenomenal previous campaign which saw him fire the Reds to the league title. The Egyptian forward is out of form and his side's woes have coincided with his struggles, leading Arne Slot to drop him.
The 33-year-old was benched as Liverpool beat West Ham United 2-0 at the London Stadium on Sunday before coming off the bench in the second half of a 1-1 draw against Sunderland. He put pen to paper on a new two-year deal at the end of last season but speculation is growing over his future.
Carragher Called Out
White Black Modern Photo Collage Before After Youtube Thumbnail - 2025-12-04T132947.207
Carragher assessed the club's situation after the West Ham win and highlighted that the long-standing spine had deteriorated. He 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."
Sam Allardyce, who coached some of the top Premier League stars in the 2010s, was less than impressed with Carragher's comments. The former Newcastle United manager said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast:
"Stop it. He should know better. He should really know better. That’s an absolutely pathetic statement, but he’s good at them, isn’t he?"
Allardyce added:
"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."
Salah registered 34 goals and 23 assists in 52 games across competitions but has just five goals and three assists in 19 in the ongoing campaign. But Allardyce pointed out that he's not the only member of Slot's squad going through a troublesome spell:
"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, and he might not be doing so well, but that’s like many of the Liverpool players. ‘Isak hasn’t played well, so have his legs gone already?"
Sam Allardyce
Sam Allardyce
Salah has been at Anfield since the summer of 2017 and has become a club legend with record-breaking success. He has won every major trophy on Merseyside and finished last season as the Premier League's Golden Boot winner.
Why You So Obsessed With Me?
White Black Modern Photo Collage Before After Youtube Thumbnail - 2025-12-04T133251.415
This isn't the first time Carragher has taken aim at Salah as the former Liverpool defender was critical of the PFA Player of the Year earlier this year. He was infuriated by the Egyptian's behaviour during his contract saga, when he suggested he was "more out than in".
Carragher advised Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who departed in the summer, to "take a leaf out of Van Dijk's book" regarding their approach in handling speculation over their futures. But the pundit received a response from the club's third all time top scorer who wrote on X:
"I’m starting to think you’re obsessed with me."
The pair made amends when Salah signed a new contract in April, ending months of speculation about a possible Anfield exit. But Carragher has still called out the Egypt captain's performances this season and perhaps the £400,000 per week new deal is playing a part.
Salah To Make Carragher Look Foolish... Again
White Black Modern Photo Collage Before After Youtube Thumbnail - 2025-12-04T133516.012
"Leave the football before it leaves you" was a phrase popularised by Carragher to describe Casemiro after the Manchester United midfielder's disastrous performance in a 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace in May 2024. It's a line many English football fans use to write a veteran player off and suggest they are in the twilight of their career.
But Casemiro did his talking on the pitch in response to that assessment, and he bounced back under Ruben Amorim, becoming one of the Portuguese coach's most important players. Most of the time, when Carragher crosses a supposed line, he ends up with egg on his face.
Salah has all the tools to again make the Reds' former centre-back look foolish and rediscover the incredible form that saw him thrive under Slot last season. Perhaps a spell out of the team will do him good and you should never be writing a player of his ability off.