Mohamed Salah is not having a good season and thus far has scored only five goals.

Last season, he bagged a whopping 29 goals in the Premier League and was named PFA Player of the Year. It was said he was the best striker in the world. The season before that, he scored 32 Premier League goals, his highest since joining the club.

Liverpool are having a horrible season and, at the current rate, will not qualify for European football next season. Arne Slot, who guided the team to glory last season, has lost his touch as losses and poor performance continue to mount up this season.

Yesterday (December 6), Liverpool squandered a 2-0 lead to share points with Leeds in a 3-3 draw, with Salah relegated to the bench.

Salah normally avoids talking to the press, but in his frustration, he decided to speak, and what he had to say was explosive and sure to anger his manager, Arne Slot.

“I could not believe I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. That’s the third time. It’s the first time in my career, I think. I’m very disappointed. I have done so much for this club over the years, especially last season. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel. Someone wants me to get all the blame. The club promised me a lot in summer. Now I‘m on the bench, so I can’t say they have kept those promises,” said the Egyptian football superstar.

He is being short-sighted here. Past performance is not indicative of future results. In sport, like life, its about what you do now, not yesterday. You are only as good as your last game and how well you did. Sure, you get kudos for glory days, but you get that huge salary for putting the ball into the back of the net, and Salah hasn’t done that this season. 

This campaign, Liverpool is off track, and it is now ninth in the EPL table with just 23 points. The team has won just four times in their last fifteen games in all competitions, and came out victorious in just two of the last ten EPL games. This is a major downslide from last season’s imperious performances, which saw Liverpool crowned EPL champion.

Arne Slot has to make changes, switch formations, drop non-performers, and Salah right now is a non-performing player. Where he is now, he can’t be guaranteed a place in the team as the lead striker. He is wrong to infer Slot has it out for him. Salah must by now understand top-class football and how it works. 

Salah continued his rant: “ I used to have a good relationship with Slot. Now we don’t have any relationship and I don’t know why. It seems like someone does not want me in the club.

“ It’s not acceptable to me to be fair. If I was somewhere else, every club would protect its players. Now, it’s “ Throw Mo under the bus” because he is a problem in a team. I don’t think I am a problem.

“I am not fighting for my position every day because I have earned it. I am not bigger than the club. I am not bigger than anything. But I have earned it.”

That’s right, you are not bigger than the club, and you should abide by your manager’s decisions; ultimately, he makes the call on team selection. No one is guaranteed a spot, particularly when the team is faltering.

Furthermore, Salah has probably caused irreparable damage to his relationship with Slot, and after that broadside, it may be difficult to repair. It was a major disrespect to the manager. 

Salah is off to play in the African Cup of Nations and will miss a vital part of the season. If Slot is able to find a striker to help turn things around, perhaps Alexander Isak, Salah will find himself in the cold, surplus to requirements.

He is on £400,000 a week and signed a new contract in April. He has to earn it and repay the faith placed in him. If he is in a slump at age 33, he has to find a way out of it and get back to performing at a high level.

Big money spells big demands. If you can’t step up and meet those expectations, best to sit down and keep quiet.

With his outrageous statement, he may have destabilised the dressing room at a time when the team has to dig deep to come out of this hole. As a senior member of the squad, he has to be an example, not a rebel.

He may be off to the Arab League after the African Cup of Nations on an even bigger pay day, thus tarnishing his Liverpool legacy, more so if the team finish the season mid-table.

Nobody wants to force Salah out of Liverpool-he is delusional. Liverpool wants him scoring goals on a regular basis, they want the Salah of last season, they don’t want a crybaby who is throwing a strop because he was benched. He put himself under the bus.

Last year, he moaned about not getting a new contract. He went on to get a great contract for more money, but today he is not performing, not justifying that contract, and now he is moaning again.

Is he there for the team? Can he be relied upon when the going gets tough?  Will he find better fortune in the Arab League?