13 August 2023 , 18:36
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Jurgen Klopp says he could understand Mo Salah's angry reaction to being substituted in Liverpool's lively draw at Chelsea.
Reds forward Salah was taken off in the 77th minute of the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, and after throwing his hands into the air and shaking his head angrily he proceeded to trudge towards the touchline and peel the tape from his wrists before throwing it to the ground, much to the delight of the Chelsea supporters.
Salah and Luis Diaz - who had scored Liverpool 's goal in the game following a fine pass from the Egyptian - had been replaced by Scottish teenager Ben Doak and young midfielder Harvey Elliott, and as Salah - who prior to this game had scored on the opening weekend of all six of his Premier League seasons at Liverpool - reached the bench he again threw his arms into the air and questioned Klopp's coaching staff.
Speaking after the game though, the Reds boss said he was fine with the reaction of his top scorer for the last six seasons, and insisted that if anything he'd be disappointed if Salah hadn't reacted that way.
"I can understand because if Mo scored it would have been a new record for goals scored in the opening game but I didn't think about that," he said.
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Salah cut an angry figure when he was taken off (Getty Images)"We needed stability and we needed fresh legs. It was super intense for everybody. That's all I can say about it, his reaction was absolutely okay. When I sub a player and he is jumping in to my arms at 1-1 and he is a striker who thinks he will score, I would be really surprised so that's absolutely fine."
Later he added: "I don't think you ever saw Mo leaving the pitch happy when he went off, but I'm the manager of the whole team and I have to do that. It was never anything against Mo. 99 per cent of the things we've achieved we've achieved because of him. But no problem."
On the game itself, he added: "The start was pretty convincing, we scored two wonderful goals, one was disallowed for an offside.
"We opened up the door for Chelsea, we lost the ball in moments where it was difficult to prepare for it. It gave the game a different direction so we were not in control of the game.
"The second half was more open and more chances for Chelsea but we showed up. It was really intense for both teams and it's a point at Chelsea.
"From my point of view it looked like we helped Chelsea get back in the game.
"Our defensive problems today had nothing to do with characteristics of the midfielders, they are a bit more offensive but all of these boys can do what we want them to do.
"We were too deep as a formation and gave the half spaces away. It's really ok, today didn't decide where our season will go. let's be positive, this team deserves so much faith and I am really looking forward to the season."