Roy Keane advised Mohamed Salah to “just sit down and shut up” following the Liverpool forward’s visibly upset reaction to being substituted off against Chelsea.
Salah was substituted in the 77th minute of Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, and after throwing his hands in 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 Chelsea fans.
Salah and Luis Diaz, who had scored Liverpool’s goal in the game after a fine pass from the Egyptian, had been replaced by Scottish teenager Ben Doak and young midfielder Harvey Elliott, and as Salah approached the bench, he threw his arms in the air once more and questioned Klopp’s coaching staff.
The Egyptian star’s reaction drew a chorus of ironic cheers from the home crowd as the former Blues winger exited the pitch. He then had a difficult conversation with manager Jurgen Klopp, who ignored his star attacker.
Keane, who was a Sky Sports pundit at the game, had no concerns with Liverpool’s superstar expressing disappointment at his withdrawal, but added that he had to accept the manager’s decision and encouraged the player to “just sit down and shut up.”
“I think it’s fine if a player comes off like that, but don’t keep doing it on the bench,” the former Manchester United captain said after the game. If you see him walking off the field with his arms in the air, tell him to sit down and quiet up.
After the game, Klopp was unsurprisingly more diplomatic, playing down Salah’s response and explaining his reasoning for replacing the Egyptian when his team was seeking a winning goal.
“I can understand because if Mo had scored, it would have set a new record for goals scored in the first game, but I didn’t think about that,” Klopp remarked. We needed solidity as well as new legs. It was an extremely intense experience for everyone.
“That’s all I have to say about it; his reaction was perfectly fine.” When I sub a guy and he jumps into my arms at 1-1 and he’s a striker who thinks he’ll score, I’m extremely startled, but that’s good.”
