Wayne Rooney's Call for Arne Slot to Exclude Mohamed Salah from Final Game

Wayne Rooney has called on Arne Slot to make a brutal statement of authority by leaving Mohamed Salah out of Liverpool’s final game of the season against Brentford, accusing the Egyptian of crossing a line with his latest public swipe.

Salah ignited the row with a social media post demanding a return to the “heavy metal” football associated with Jurgen Klopp – a message widely read as a direct challenge to Slot’s more controlled approach. For Rooney, that was one step too far.

On The Wayne Rooney Show, the former Manchester United and England captain did not hide his disappointment at how one of Liverpool’s modern greats is handling what appears to be his last stretch at Anfield.

“I find it sad at the end of what he’s done and what he’s achieved at Liverpool,” Rooney said. “It’s not the point for him to come out and aim another dig at Slot. He wants to play heavy metal football, so he’s basically saying he wants Jurgen Klopp football. Now I don’t think Mo Salah can cope with that type of football anymore. I think his legs have gone to play at that high tempo and high intensity.”

The criticism didn’t stop at tactics. Rooney argued Salah’s comments were not just a challenge to Slot but a grenade lobbed into the dressing room.

“He's almost just dropped the grenade and said he doesn't trust and believe in Arne Slot and almost thrown his teammates who are going to be there next season and let them have to deal with that as well and put them into a position.”

This is not the first flashpoint between player and manager. Salah was dropped earlier in the campaign after accusing Slot and Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” over his reduced game time. For a forward who has delivered 257 goals for the club and helped deliver a Premier League title, the backdrop is jarring.

Yet Rooney believes the recent outbursts are less about principle and more about a star trying to shield himself from criticism during a poor year. After scoring 29 league goals last season on the way to the title, Salah has just 12 goals in 40 games across all competitions this term, with Liverpool stumbling towards a fifth-place finish.

“I think Salah's trying to vindicate himself and make himself feel better because he's had a very poor season,” Rooney claimed. “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.”

For Rooney, this is now a test of Slot’s authority as much as Salah’s legacy. He drew a direct line back to his own experience under Sir Alex Ferguson, recalling how the legendary manager left him out of his final game at Old Trafford after a disagreement. It was Ferguson pulling rank. Rooney believes Slot must now do the same.

“If I was Arne Slot, I’d have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game,” Rooney insisted. “I had it with Alex Ferguson. I had a disagreement and fall out and at Alex Ferguson’s last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the squad for that reason. That’s your manager. You can’t publicly disrespect him twice the way he has and get away with it. And that’s where if I was Arne Slot, I’d have to pull rank and just say, listen, you’re not coming anywhere near the place on Saturday, whether you like it or not. I really doubt he will do it, but I think he should.”

The question of Salah’s farewell looms over everything. An icon of the Klopp era, a symbol of Liverpool’s resurgence, now edging towards the exit amid acrimony rather than adulation.

“Of course he deserves a good send off but does he deserve it just for this? It’s the second time he’s done it,” Rooney said. “It’s just a shame to see one of the great icon of Premier League players leave the Premier League probably in this situation.”

All of this unfolds against a broader backdrop of decline. Liverpool’s title defence has crumbled, the intensity that once defined them draining away from both pitch and stands. Anfield, once a cauldron, has started to feel oddly subdued.

“I think that's the biggest change for me where you go to Anfield, the first thing you want to do is quieten the crowd,” Rooney said. “But I think actually by Liverpool not pressing they're quietening the crowd down themselves and frustrating the Liverpool fans. And so that's the big, big change for me.”

Rooney admitted he is torn on Slot’s future. The Dutchman delivered the league title last season and, in his view, that buys time, even as the current campaign unravels.

“I’m quite split in should he go or should he stay because he won the league last season, I think he deserves a bit more time, in terms of what we’ve seen this season,” Rooney said. “I don't feel right or good saying this, some players look like they've downed tools and that's a big problem if you see that or you feel that for the manager.”

So Liverpool head towards their final fixture with a manager under scrutiny, a superstar under fire, and a fanbase caught between gratitude and anger. Slot must decide whether to lean into sentiment and give Salah a last Anfield bow, or take Rooney’s advice and draw a hard line.

Either way, the manner of Salah’s goodbye now threatens to say as much about Liverpool’s future under Slot as it does about the legacy of one of their greatest-ever forwards.