13 August 2023 , 23:14
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Roy Keane has told Mohamed Salah to "just sit down and shut up" after the Liverpool forward’s visible displeasure at being substituted off against Chelsea.
Reds forward Salah was taken off in the 77th minute of the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, and after throwing his hands into the air and shaking his head angrily he proceeded to trudge towards the touchline and peel the tape from his wrists before throwing it to the ground, much to the delight of the Chelsea supporters.
Salah and Luis Diaz - who had scored Liverpool 's goal in the game following a fine pass from the Egyptian - had been replaced by Scottish teenager Ben Doak and young midfielder Harvey Elliott, and as Salah - who prior to this game had scored on the opening weekend of all six of his Premier League seasons at Liverpool - reached the bench he again threw his arms into the air and questioned Klopp's coaching staff.
The home fans lapped up the Egyptian star’s reaction as the former Blues winger left the pitch to a chorus of ironic cheers. He then had a somewhat tense exchange with boss Jurgen Klopp, as the German ignored his star forward.
Keane, working as a pundit for Sky Sports at the match, did not have any complaints about Liverpool’s superstar showing disappointment at his withdrawal, but added that he had to accept the manager’s choice and advised the player to "just sit down and shut up".
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The former Manchester United captain explained of the incident after the match: “I think it’s fine if a player comes off like that but don’t keep doing it on the bench. You see him off the pitch with his arms in the air - just sit down and shut up.
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Salah cut an angry figure when he was taken off (Getty Images)"You have to take it. You can be upset, fine, but don’t drag it out. I’ve seen a lot more players that are better than Salah get taken off and they’ve been fine."
Reds boss Klopp was, understandably, more diplomatic after the match – playing down Salah’s reaction and explaining his rationale to the decision to replace the Egyptian when his side were chasing a winning goal.
Klopp said: "I can understand because if Mo scored it would have been a new record for goals scored in the opening game but I didn’t think about that. We needed stability and we needed fresh legs. It was super intense for everybody.
"That’s all I can say about it, his reaction was absolutely okay. When I sub a player and he is jumping into my arms at 1-1 and he is a striker who thinks he will score, I would be really surprised so that’s absolutely fine."