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Gary Neville has weighed in on the situation involving Liverpool and Mohamed Salah, making a comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo when the Portugal forward was at Manchester United.
Salah made the headlines with his explosive interview following the draw with Leeds United and his long-term future at Anfield is uncertain as a result. But Arne Slot handled things as well as he could have been expected to in difficult circumstances.
Leaving Salah out of the Champions League win over Inter Milan, the 33-year-old was then back in the matchday squad for the visit of Brighton. Replacing the injured Joe Gomez in the first half, he impressed with a strong performance.
"My reaction to the Cristiano Ronaldo interview a few years back was similar to Carra's reaction to Salah," Neville said on The Overlap podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
"I would have said the same thing if it was a United player. If you are a special player at that level, I am expecting you to lift everyone, not create more problems. I understand why these players do what they do but I didn't agree with it.
"As with Cristiano, if you are one of the greatest players in the world, you should carry the dressing room and not expect them to pander to you.
"He is going to become a squad player and that will end in one thing. There are certain players when I was at Manchester United that if they weren't playing, you knew it was going to end very badly."
Salah has now gone away with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations. He could miss around eight Liverpool fixtures and will return in January, by which time things might have cooled down a little.
Under contract for another 18 months or so, Salah could still be a very important player for Liverpool in that period. Earlier in the week, Jamie Carragher warned against a premature exit.
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"It was nicer than what we saw at Elland Road," Carragher said of the scenes after the final whistle against Brighton.
"But does Mo Salah deserve more than that as a Liverpool player?
"He deserves a guard of honor, he deserves a mosaic in the Kop, he deserves to be able to bring his family, his wife and his kids on the pitch and actually be celebrated for what he's done as a Liverpool player."
Liverpool.com says: Salah has a period away now, which will be good for both parties. When he comes back, he will need to knuckle down to win his place back.
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