Steven Gerrard has urged Liverpool to resolve the dispute with Mohamed Salah after a public falling out with Arne Slot that saw the forward left out of the travelling party for a Champions League tie. The club won that game 1–0 against Inter via Dominik Szoboszlai’s late and controversial penalty.

Salah accused Liverpool of “throwing him under the bus” and, during an extensive rant, hinted at a possible exit as Saudi Pro League clubs circled. Gerrard wants the winger to remain at the club and return to form.

“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect,” Gerrard told TNT Sports. “He won’t sit out of the team, which I respect. The couple of lines about throwing people under the bus [is] wrong. He needs to reverse a little bit away from that.

“He needs to deal with that with the manager. This needs Virgil van Dijk to go, ‘How are we sorting this out for the benefit of not the club, or the team, but the fans?’”

Gerrard drew parallels with a previous dressing-room rupture during his playing days. “I’ve seen this and I’ve lived it. I lived it with [Luis] Suárez when he fell out with Brendan [Rodgers]. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been there myself from a personal point of view. I did the Salah statement in 30 seconds against [Manchester] United when I got sent off. So no-one’s perfect.

“We’ve all had head losses as players. We’ve all done emotional things. And I know in time when this all calms Mo will go, ‘I shouldn’t have said that, I maybe shouldn’t have said that, I was a bit emotional, I was a bit hasty.’

“But at the end of the day, Liverpool football club needs Mo Salah, back playing well, back scoring goals, because he is the best player, the best scorer and he will help them get out of this. If this goes on, this is bigger than what we all know and what we see.”

The article notes that Jürgen Klopp is deeply familiar with managing Salah, having used him 349 times during his time in the Anfield dugout—the player he used most in his coaching career. Klopp praised Salah’s constant development. “He always developed. He never stops. That is his mindset,” Klopp told the BBC. “After each summer break he came back and had a new skill. It was like he had spent the whole time just practising one particular type of pass.

“We pushed each other, just to make sure that we would never stop. And we never did stop. That moment lifting the Premier League bonded us for life. He will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.”

The public exchange between Jamie Carragher and Mohamed Salah took an unexpected turn when the pundit issued an apology after a period of sharp criticism. The row began with Salah predicting: “Tomorrow Carragher is going to go for me again and again and that’s fine,” and escalated when Carragher launched a stinging assessment of the forward and the situation around him.

The former England international criticised what he described as a sequence of remarks, calling them “disgraceful” and “choreographed.” He singled out the player’s defensive contributions and the impact on team-mates in harsh terms. “When we are talking about throwing people under the bus, he’s thrown every Liverpool right back under the bus for the eight years,” Carragher said of the defensively indifferent right winger. “Can you imagine playing behind him for eight years?”

Carragher also attacked the player’s wider reputation, adding: “You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool , you haven’t really won much for Egypt,” he scoffed. “No matter how big you are, you need help from your teammates, your manager and fans, it’s important that he remembers that.”

After 24 hours, Carragher returned to television and addressed the player directly. Looking down the lens of the camera in CBS Sports’ studio, Carragher said: “I apologise if I’ve upset you. I love you as a Liverpool player, but you just need to behave yourself off the pitch.”

The mood change coincided with Liverpool’s 1–0 win away to Inter in the absence of Salah. Carragher’s reaction to the result was effusive and heavily managerial in focus. “I was so desperate for Liverpool to win tonight, as I am every time they play, but more so for the manager for what he’s been through over the last few days,” the former centre back beamed.

“I don’t know him that well, have any real relationship with him, but he’s the Liverpool manager.

“We know what’s gone on and what was really telling was the supporters chanting his name in the first half when it was 0–0… they’re right behind their manager, even more so on the back of that result.

“It was a massive result, it’s a tough place to go and Liverpool needed that on the back of losing their last game at home in the Champions League to PSV .

“I’m happy for him more than anything. It’s been tough all season for him. As a manager, he has to do better in terms of getting more results with the squad of players he’s got, but that’s a huge result for him and the club. I’m over the moon for him.”

Arne Slot kept the focus on Liverpool’s result but left the resolution of the Mohamed Salah situation squarely with the player after the Reds’ 1–0 Champions League victory over Inter Milan.

Slot conceded “everyone makes mistakes” when pressed about Salah and said he had told the forward in a “short” conversation at training that he is “not weak”. Dominik Szoboszlai converted a late penalty in place of the Egypt international to secure the win.

The manager emphasised that recognition of an error and the initiative to move on are matters for the squad and the individual. He said: “Well, you say everyone makes mistakes in life but the question is should the players also recognise that as well? And should the initiative come from the player or me? That’s another question. Ibou Konaté has had some difficult moments lately but he played an outstanding game [against Inter].”

Slot pointed to a change in trajectory after he left Salah out of the team, noting the results since that selection decision. “After PSV and Forest games, where we conceded seven goals in two games, it was time for us to concede less and that’s what we did against West Ham,” he outlined. “Then we played Sunderland and their first chance came in the 86th minute. Their first goal wasn’t even a chance and then came Leeds.

“We showed character in the second half and changed the tactics a little bit.”

On how public scrutiny affected the squad, Slot added: “There was a lot of things been said,” Slot added. “Normally, that affects players as well because he’s [Salah] been so influential for the club and the players so it’s never nice when something happens to their teammates.”

Captain Virgil van Dijk declined to assign blame and described the matter as collective. “It’s not up to me to say who should apologise,” Van Dijk said. “It’s [Salah] airing his feelings. The club has to deal with it and him as well.

“It’s a collective situation. Things between Mo and the club are going on and he is obviously not here today helping us get three points.

“I know Mo a long time. He is a friend. We have had highs and lows. We speak, those type of things will stay indoors. We have to brace ourselves and be against the outside noise.”

It is unclear whether the 33-year-old will be included in Slot’s squad ahead of the upcoming Premier League match with Brighton & Hove Albion, with Salah due to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations next week.