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Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been called a "disgrace" who has caused "carnage" at the club by pundits as the fallout continues from his explosive interview.
Salah said he feels he has been "thrown under the bus" after being dropped to the bench for struggling Liverpool's past three games, which led to him being left out of the squad for Tuesday's Champions League match at Inter Milan.
The two-time Premier League winner's remarks have led to stinging criticism from former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and ex-Blackburn and Celtic striker Chris Sutton.
"I thought it was a disgrace," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "Some have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don't think it was.
"When Mo Salah stops in the mixed zone - which he has done four times in eight years - it is choreographed with him and his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position."
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sutton said: "Liverpool is carnage because of Mo Salah.
"He's been honest and open, but he's made it all about him and not the team. He's been extremely selfish - that's what he's done because now there's a bit of a civil war at Liverpool, and it didn't need to be like this."
Liverpool manager Arne Slot said he was "surprised" by Salah's comments that their relationship had broken down completely and had "no clue" if the 33-year-old would play for the club again.
"I don't feel my authority is undermined - it is not the way I feel it," said Slot in Milan on Monday.
"After tomorrow we will look at the situation. There is always the possibility to return for a player."
On Tuesday morning, Salah posted an image on social media, external of himself alone in the gym at Liverpool's training complex.
Egypt winger Salah will depart for the Africa Cup of Nations next Monday, but with his future at Anfield in doubt it remains to be seen whether he will be involved in Saturday's Premier League home game against Brighton (15:00 GMT).
Carragher, who Salah had predicted would "go for me again" in his interview, was particularly critical of the timing of the comments, coming after Liverpool had conceded a late equaliser to draw 3-3 at Leeds on Saturday evening.
The defending Premier League champions have won just four of their past 15 games in all competitions, going back to September, with Slot increasingly finding himself under pressure.
"He has waited, I think, for a bad result with Liverpool," Carragher said.
"Everyone connected with the club feels like they are in the gutter and he has chosen this time to go for the manager - and maybe try and get him sacked.
"The one line that stands out for me was 'thrown under the bus'. He has tried to throw the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months.
"Going after the owners initially, he complained a year ago because they hadn't given him a contract at the age of 32.
"With the manager, he should be doing all he can to help the club get out of the worst run of results they have had since the 1950s."
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England captain Steph Houghton agreed.
"It probably couldn't have come at a worse time for Liverpool," she said.
"That's what makes us think this is something that was pre-planned. He probably expected to come on at some point [against Leeds], he didn't, and for Mo Salah that probably hurts his ego.
"But it's poor from him. I think it does put other people in jeopardy. It's got us talking about it, which he wants."
Carragher also called for Salah not to be "obsessed" with his own numbers and suggested he should help the other players, such as big-money signings Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, who are hoping to emulate his success at the club.
"Some of the criticism has been excessive this season, but I will go after Mo Salah when he tries to throw my club under the bus off the pitch and just thinks about himself," Carragher added.
"The club have made the right decision in him not going abroad with them and whether he will play for the club again I don't know.
"I hope he does because he is one of the greatest players we have ever had."
After a stellar season in 2024-25, in which he spearheaded Liverpool's surge to the title, Salah has been short of his best this campaign with only five goals in 19 games.
"He's had a phenomenal career," Sutton said.
"This season he hasn't played so well, his numbers are down, he's not the same player and all of a sudden he's been left out for a few games and wants to live by different rules than other players in the dressing room.
"I find the whole situation absolutely ridiculous.
"What good could come out of what he did? What sickens me a bit about it is when Liverpool have been doing well, and players come out and speak, 'it's the team spirit, we all get on so great and everything's marvellous'.
"And now we're seeing Mo Salah for what he really is. It's all about him. It's him being selfish. I hate that sort of stuff. I think he's really let himself down here.
"It's all about who will go - will it be Slot or will it be Salah? And how is that beneficial for someone who loves the club so much?"
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Wrexham's former Everton and Wolves defender Conor Coady, who began his career in Liverpool's academy, added: "I could only think that something has gone on behind the scenes that we don't know about.
"He should never, ever go to the press and do what he's done because you put your team-mates in jeopardy, and that's the most important thing. That's the biggest wrongdoing he can do in my eyes."
