Wayne Rooney, the former Manchester United striker, unleashed a scathing critique of Mohamed Salah on Sunday, pinning much of Liverpool’s alarming slump on the Egyptian star’s lack of defensive effort and calling for manager Arne Slot to bench him to jolt the squad back to life.
The comments came after Liverpool’s humiliating 3-0 home loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, a result that plunged the defending champions to 11th in the Premier League with just 18 points from 12 games — their worst start since 2005. Salah, who has netted five goals this season, was anonymous in the defeat, offering no goals or assists as Forest capitalised on swift counters.
“If I were Slot, I’d try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team. Salah is not helping them defensively,” Rooney said on Sky Sports. “If you’re one of the players who they’ve signed and you’re on the bench and you’ve seen him not running — and again he’s a club legend and everything he’s done for the club — but if you’re on the bench, then what message does that send to you?”
Rooney, speaking ahead of Liverpool’s looming Champions League clash with Real Madrid, linked the malaise to the emotional toll of Diogo Jota’s recent absence but insisted excuses fall flat. “They’re going through a hard time, aren’t they? You’ve probably got to look at the effect of what sadly happened to Jota. What effect does that have on the players, because that’s his teammates? That surely has to have an effect. But then there’s no excuse for not fighting and not tackling.”
Slot, under mounting pressure after a £241 million summer splurge on talents like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, defended his star man post-match, saying: “Mo is our leader on and off the pitch. We’re building something special; one bad day doesn’t define us.” Yet the Dutch coach faces a defining week, with the Forest debacle extending Liverpool’s winless run to five league games and exposing vulnerabilities despite a promising pre-season.
Salah, 33, has been Liverpool’s talisman since 2017, but Rooney’s salvo echoes growing fan frustration over his waning work rate, with calls for rotation intensifying as the Reds chase a top-four finish. Forest’s triumph, meanwhile, catapults them to sixth, validating Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactical tweaks.
