Roy Keane advised Mohamed Salah to “just sit down and shut up” after the Liverpool forward expressed his anger at being substituted off against Chelsea.
Salah was substituted in the 77th minute of the 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Salah and Luis Diaz had been replaced by Scottish teenager Ben Doak and young midfielder Harvey Elliott, who had scored on the opening weekend of all six of Salah’s Premier League seasons at Liverpool.
The Egyptian star’s reaction drew a chorus of ironic cheers from the home crowd as the former Blues winger departed the pitch. He then had a difficult conversation with Klopp, who ignored his star forward.
Keane, who was serving as 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 do it on the bench,” the former Manchester United captain said after the game. If you see him off the pitch with his arms in the air, simply sit down and shut up.
After the game, Klopp was unsurprisingly more diplomatic, playing down Salah’s response and explaining his reasoning for replacing the Egyptian while 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,” Klopp remarked. We needed solidity and new legs. It was quite intense for everyone.
“That’s all I have to say about it; his reaction was perfectly normal.” 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 perfectly good.”
