Gary Neville has backed Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher over his Mohamed Salah comments by using a Cristiano Ronaldo comparison.
After the Reds’ 3-3 draw against Leeds United earlier this month, Salah hit at Liverpool for being made a scapegoat for recent performances and claimed he no longer had a relationship with Arne Slot.
The board and Slot made the joint decision to omit Salah from their squad to face Inter Milan last midweek before peace talks saw the Egypt international back in the squad for their 2-0 win over Brighton at the weekend.
Salah was serenaded by the Kop after the match but it still feels like his time as a Liverpool player is coming to an end with rumours of his imminent departure over the next two transfer windows.
Carragher called out Salah’s comments as a “disgrace” with the Liverpool legend getting criticised in some quarters for his strong words.
But Neville can relate as he was frustrated by the way Cristiano Ronaldo spoke publicly about Man Utd and criticised the club before his departure to Saudi Arabia.
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Neville said on The Overlap podcast: “My reaction to the Cristiano Ronaldo interview a few years back was similar to Carra’s reaction to Salah.
“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.”
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Salah came off the bench to help Liverpool to a win over Brighton last weekend with the fans singing his name and applauding him at the final whistle.
Reacting to the scenes at the end of the match at Anfield, Carragher said: “It was nicer than what we saw at Elland Road.
“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.”