Wayne Rooney Fires Back at Mohamed Salah as Liverpool's Struggles Deepen

Wayne Rooney has criticized Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah regarding his defensive contributions during the Reds' recent poor form.

Salah has failed to register a goal or assist in consecutive losses to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and most recently Chelsea, with Blues defender Marc Cucurella revealing they specifically targeted the Egyptian's lack of defensive tracking in the lead-up to Estêvão's decisive goal.

Former Manchester United star Rooney was critical of Salah's performance in the latest loss. Conor Bradley struggled against Alejandro Garnacho and the winning goal originated from Liverpool's right flank when Chelsea's numerical advantage allowed Cucurella to deliver a cross for Estêvão's simple finish.

"In recent days, I'd challenge his commitment level," he stated on The Wayne Rooney Show. "We understand he doesn't always track back defensively, but during the Chelsea match... his fullback was being overrun and he's just observing, not returning to help.

"Senior players like [Virgil] van Dijk and Alisson, who wasn't available, the team captains should be instructing him, 'You must provide support.' That concerned me. He's appeared somewhat disconnected recently."

Rooney: Salah's Goals Masked Developing Issue

Rooney acknowledged experiencing similar circumstances at United with Cristiano Ronaldo, whose left flank often became defensively vulnerable due to his offensive focus. Sir Alex Ferguson adapted his system to address this weakness and Rooney urged Arne Slot to implement similar changes.

"Particularly in recent months, the Liverpool supporters I know locally were criticizing him," he added.

"When he's finding the net and securing victories you can overlook it, but the top coaches recognize this and make adjustments.

"I'm not suggesting you drop him from the squad. We experienced this with Ronaldo at Man United where he similarly wouldn't defend as much, so Ferguson repositioned him centrally. This way, you maintain team balance, the defensive work gets completed but he's moved infield while remaining on the field, because he always poses a scoring threat and can influence matches.

"As players age, I believe Slot could have considered it and realized, 'Chelsea are exploiting us on this flank.' Shift him more central, even if you deploy [Florian] Wirtz wide, you still maintain that defensive discipline while retaining Salah's genius to find goals. As a Liverpool supporter that would worry me slightly."