Premier League legend Alan Shearer has jumped to the defence of Mohamed Salah following his touchline bust-up with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp on Saturday. The pair needed to be separated by Darwin Nunez against West Ham, with the pair refusing to open up on the incident in their post-match press duties.
After their title chances were left in tatters in midweek following a defeat to Everton, Liverpool needed to bounce back to form with a bang at the London Stadium to give themselves any chance of capitalising on potential errors made by Arsenal and Manchester City.
Klopp opted to rotate his ranks for the clash with West Ham though, with Nunez and Salah – who have both underperformed recently – being dropped. The decision did not bear fruit though, with the Reds being forced to settle for a point against David Moyes’ side.
However, the draw was not the key takeaway from the match for Liverpool as a touchline spat between Klopp and Salah has left many questioning where their relationship lies. After receiving some last-minute instructions from his manager before entering the pitch, Salah reacted furiously to the comments of Klopp and began berating the German.
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The pair exchanged words briefly before Salah stepped in the direction of his soon-to-be former manager and began waving his arm around and signalling for him to be quiet, prompting Nunez to step in and push his teammate away from the situation. The root of the squabble remains unknown, with Salah claiming it would ‘create fire’ if he spoke out.
But Shearer believes that the Liverpool No. 11 was right to be angry with his manager due to the timing (80th minute) of his substitution. Speaking on Match of the Day, the ex-Newcastle star said: “We don’t know what Klopp has said to him there. He’s said something that’s riled him. He’s obviously got the right hump with being left out and probably rightly so, even though hasn’t hit the heights that Mo Salah has done over the years. He’s been an unbelievable player.
