Morning all.
First up, in no way, shape or form do I feel sorry for what Liverpool are going through, however, following Mo Salah’s comments about being thrown under the bus by his club, it made me think whether or not it’s right for players to speak to the media when they feel hard done by?
I’ve been sat thinking about Arsenal and I can’t think of any player who has spoken out about being cast aside by the club/manager after clearly being unplayed and unwanted. Not even since Mikel Arteta returned to the club in 2019 and he’s ruthlessly dumped a lot of players. Guendouzi, Ozil, Aubameyang, Pepe, Martinez, Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, Mustafi and Kolasinac to same a few were gone, some quicker than others. Younger players were sold on too like Nketiah, Smith Rowe and Willock, not to mention the many academy players.
Mikel Arteta wouldn’t have seen his team win the FA Cup had it not been for Martinez, Aubameyang and Ozil but that didn’t matter and rightly so because it’s not like any of the three appeared to put Arsenal first after that. Martinez wanted to be number one and sulked when such assurances weren’t offered, Ozil, as good as he was on the ball, simply wasn’t able to fight for team and Aubameyang, well we’ve all read what was supposed to have happened with him.
Yet I don’t recall any of the players who Arteta froze out, speaking to the media whilst still employed by the club. Saying that, it might be a case of my memory not being as good as yours.
Putting things into perspective though, none of the players Arsenal have let go in the last six years have had the kind of impact on the club as Salah has on Liverpool. Eight years, 420 games according to Wikipedia, scoring 250 goals. Two Premier League trophies and a Champions League winners medal too. As well as a few Domestic Cups. His goals were key to Liverpool enjoying those successes.
In April this year, he signed a new contract which is was everyone concerned with Liverpool wanted wasn’t it? Yet now, he feels like he’s been thrown under the bus because Liverpool have been struggling this season. Yet, if one listens/reads to what the media have to say on the Merseyside side club, there are more issues with their football than just Mo Salah. They have conceded 24 goals, 15 more than our miserly 9, they’ve scored 24 goals which is just 4 less than we have in the league so logic suggests, it’s not up front where Liverpool have a huge problem but in defence.
So perhaps Mo Salah is right, he has kind of been thrown under the bus. Not so much because he’s scoring for fun this season but because those behind him are leaking goals for fun.
Even so, do you think he’s right to speak out or should he just keep quiet, ask for a transfer and move on to pastures new?
Catch up in the comments.
Good morning Rico.
A thought provoking post to say the least.
My first thought was the right to free speech. My second was loyalty to the club that has nurtured him and made him a multi- millionaire.
I rather suspect that his agent may be behind the outburst. If Liverpool chose to sack Salah his agent stood to pocket a, more than, nice little earner.
If the club decide to hold Salah to his contract they will have to pay him millions in wages for very little return. Salah will eventually drift into obscurity and have to exist on his savings.
I see the whole sorry mess as an attempt by Salah to get a last whopping great boost to his bank account as he has come to realise that he is no longer the terror of The Premiership. Indeed, he has had a dreadful half season and needs a quick exit before the club’s courting him realise that they might just be buying a pig in a poke.
All that said, I have to say that schadenfreuder is a wonderful thing. 😉
Morning Cicero, all.
My thought was how different it’s been at Arsenal.
MLS or Saudi in January I reckon, life is tough at the top eh..
Rico, Salah is an Arab in Saudi he will be treated like Prince, in the States he would be looked upon as another immigrant.