Rooney says Liverpool should drop Mohamed Salah for farewell game after criticism

Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney has urged Liverpool to exclude Mohamed Salah from the striker’s proposed farewell match against Brighton on Sunday, after the forward criticised the club’s playing style on social media.

Salah, who announced in May that he will leave Liverpool after nine years, posted that the team must return to “heavy metal attacking” football — the high-tempo, trophy-winning identity he believes suits the club. “I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions,” he wrote. “Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve. I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable, and everyone who joins this club should adapt to it.”

Rooney, who sits just ahead of Salah on the Premier League’s all-time scorers list, called the comments an inappropriate parting shot at manager Arne Slot. Speaking on the Wayne Rooney Show on BBC, Rooney said the timing was wrong and that he would keep Salah out of the squad. “If I was Arne Slot, I’d have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game,” he said, recalling how Sir Alex Ferguson left him out of United’s squad for Ferguson’s own final match after a falling-out.

Rooney added that Salah’s criticism felt like an attempt to justify a disappointing season. With Liverpool slipping to fifth, Salah has scored seven goals in 26 appearances. “I think Salah’s trying to vindicate himself and make himself feel better because he’s had a very poor season,” Rooney said. “So I think he’s been very selfish in what he’s done in the two occasions. It’s a shame and fans will be on his side, but I think when you look deeper into it and having been in a dressing room in a similar situation to that as well, Mo Salah knows exactly what he’s doing.”