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The white-hot atmosphere in the stands after Liverpool's chaotic 3-3 draw with Leeds had barely cooled when Mohamed Salah decided to turn the heat up in the Elland Road mixed zone.
Liverpool's No.11 had just watched his teammates twice throw away a lead during a pulsating Premier League game that saw all six goals scored after half-time.
The post-game talking points didn't exactly need adding to: Arne Slot's job security was again set to dominate those – but we also had the brilliance of Hugo Ekitike and Dominik Szoboszlai, and the brainlessness in equal measure of Ibrahima Konate.
Within 45 minutes of the final whistle in West Yorkshire, Salah had ensured that all of the the post-game talk would revolve around a player who did not even make it onto the pitch.
Jamie Carragher recently called on Salah, as one of Liverpool's senior players, to front up to the media during difficult times — this was categorically not that.
This was a player airing unreasonable gripes in a self-centered fashion, effectively telling Liverpool: change the manager or sell me in January.
"I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don't have any relationship," Salah said. "I don't know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn't want me in the club."
English soccer has seen this before, and not particularly long ago, either: an unhappy superstar player rocking the boat because things aren't going their way.
Cristiano Ronaldo's explosive interview with the sycophantic Piers Morgan in 2022 ultimately got Ronaldo what he wanted – an escape from Manchester United and a contract in Saudi Arabia worth millions of dollars per week.
Salah would not be drawn into discussing whether a move to the Saudi Pro League was a possibility, but it is obvious that the most famous Arab sportsman would be able to go there if he wanted to.
The reaction from Liverpool's supporters to Salah's interview has been mixed, with some fans decrying his lack of professionalism, and others suggesting he has been disrespected with his lack of game time of late.
"The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career," Salah moaned. "I'm very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season."
Salah's right: he was freakishly good last season – but that was then and this is now, and he is not operating at anything like the level he was at 12 months ago.
So, what happens next? It's unlikely that Salah will appear again before heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations next week, but Liverpool will be keen to resolve the situation one way or another before he is due to return in January.
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