As Liverpool lost a third successive game across all competitions, Premier League legend Wayne Rooney accused Reds talisman Mohamed Salah of "watching" Conor Bradley get torn apart by Chelsea behind him and doing very little to help. Last season, Salah openly praised Liverpool boss Arne Slot for taking away the defensive responsibility that Jurgen Klopp had previously insisted on.

'I would question Salah's work ethic'

On the latest episode of across BBC platforms, Rooney suggested that Salah should be doing more work off the ball that benefits the team around him.

Right-back Bradley was often isolated, eventually withdrawn at half-time as Slot shuffled his team.

"We know he doesn't always get back and defend as much, but in the Chelsea game his full-back was getting torn apart and he was watching," Rooney said of Salah, calling on others to drill it into the Egyptian superstar that he needs to be doing more.

"He's not getting back and helping, and players like [Virgil] Van Dijk and the leaders in the dressing room should be telling him, 'you need to help out'," Rooney continued.

"That was a worry and I think he has looked a bit lost over the last week. When it's going well and you're scoring goals and winning games it's great and the team will put up with that but, over the last week, I would question his work ethic. I think when you get a bit older as well, Slot maybe could have looked at that and thought, 'Chelsea are killing us down the side'."

AdvertisementAFPRonaldo example could fix Liverpool's Salah problem

Liverpool have been defensively poor so far this season, conceding nine goals in seven Premier League games. If teams can consistently exploit a weakness down the right flank, with Salah failing to sufficiently protect Bradley, or Jeremie Frimpong, those problems could worsen.

Rooney's proposed solution is to mimic how Sir Alex Ferguson found a workaround with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United.

"Move [Salah] inside and move [Florian] Wirtz out there [to the right] and still have that work ethic in there and the brilliance of Salah to try and score goals. The best managers see that and adjust," Rooney explained, calling on Slot to identify and resolve the issue.

"I'm not saying you leave him out of the team. We had that with Ronaldo at Manchester United who similarly wouldn't track back so Fergie moves him inside, so you still have the balance of the team and the work getting done. He moves him inside so he is still on the pitch because he's always got a chance of scoring goals and winning games."

Salah glad about diminished defensive duties

In what could have been perceived as a dig at former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, Salah thanked Slot for "listening" to his request to do less defending than he had to before, when speaking towards the end of last season about his redefined role in the team.

The 33-year-old claimed his 57 goals and assists across all competitions in 2024-25 were a direct result of Slot's differing approach and willingness to allow him to largely disregard defensive duties.

"You can see the numbers. Now I don't have to defend much. The tactics are quite different. I said 'as long as you rest me defensively I will provide offensively', so I am glad that I did," Salah explained at the time.

"He listened a lot and you can see the numbers. When you play in the Premier League you have to defend but I said that I can gamble and somehow I can make a difference. My number of assists shows that you can create chances as well."

Getty Images SportIs Salah still justified for not defending?

If Salah's excuse for not willingly defending in order to preserve himself to attack, his numbers in the early weeks of 2025-26 are disappointing. It's just three goals in 10 appearances across all competitions so far, with a further three assists, not the kind of return that would make a team essentially defending with only 10 players worthwhile. In the Premier League alone, Salah has found the net just once in his last six appearances.

Liverpool will have to play without Salah for several matches over the Christmas period, with the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations starting on December 21 and running into the latter half of January. If Egypt go the distance, Salah could be missing for up to 10 games across four competitions. It would be sickening for Salah if Liverpool's team balance is better without him.