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Alan Shearer has revealed why he thinks Mohamed Salah "didn't have a choice" but to deliver for Liverpool against Brighton.
Salah put in an outstanding shift off the bench for the Reds in their 2-0 victory over the Seagulls, despite initially being named amongst the replacements. The Egyptian was part of the matchday squad for the match at Anfield following discussions with manager Arne Slot, after being away from the team for the previous Champions League fixture against Inter Milan.
The choice to exclude Salah from the squad came after the Liverpool attacker claimed he had been "thrown under the bus" by the club in an explosive interview after spending the 3-3 draw with Leeds on the bench a few days earlier.
Slot had relegated Salah to substitute duties for three straight matches, which triggered the outburst from the Egypt captain in the now notorious interview with journalists following the Leeds clash.
Shearer featured on the most recent Rest is Football podcast with Micah Richards and Gary Lineker, discussing the speculation surrounding Salah's future at Liverpool, with the winger now set to join up with the Egypt national team for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Newcastle legend was asked whether he believed the drama had been defused following Salah's substitute appearance against Brighton at the weekend.
"I don't know, what I do know is that he's going away for four or five weeks, which will, maybe, calm the situation," said Shearer. "There are so many different ways you could look at it, both positive and negative, but we'd only be guessing. So I don't think we should do that."
Richards echoed Shearer's sentiments, with the ex-Manchester City defender sharing his observations on Salah's performance at Anfield.
"I think it's nice that he's going away now," Richards commented. "I think Slot dealt with the whole situation very well.
"Even when he could have thrown Salah under the bus, he didn't. Salah's had an outburst, and all top players have egos.
"It was nice that he got on (vs. Brighton) and the most important thing [was] he looked sharp when he went on. He should have scored."
Shearer then interjected, stating, "I don't think he had a choice, by the way. He had to perform, didn't he?"
Lineker then asked Shearer to clarify what he meant, which led to the former Newcastle striker saying: "He [Salah] had to come on and do well, after what he said.
"And then [being] put back in the squad, he had to run around, and he had to do well. I know he missed a chance."
Liverpool's next challenge will be against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the Premier League, marking their first match since Salah joined up with Egypt for AFCON.
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