Jürgen Klopp talks about the Liverpool decision that made Mohamed Salah “very disappointed”.

Following earlier accusations from the Egyptian, Jurgen Klopp made an intriguing decision about Mohamed Salah during Thursday night’s Europa League match against LASK.

Jürgen Klopp talks about the Liverpool decision that made Mohamed Salah “very disappointed”.

 

After captaining the Reds against LASK, Mo Salah has finally received his wish to captain Liverpool, thanks to Jurgen Klopp.

 

Despite Klopp’s team seeming certain to advance to the next round, the Egyptian forward was unexpectedly selected in the starting lineup for the match at Anfield. Salah, who led the team in lieu of Virgil van Dijk, had a memorable debut despite starting from the bench with vice captain Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Salah had only worn the armband twice, the first occasion occurring during the Carabao Cup victory 2-1 over Bournemouth. Still, it was the first time he had ever led Liverpool at Anfield.

 

With Klopp’s move, Salah, who had earlier grumbled about not receiving the armband, can finally relax. In 2020, during a match against Midtjylland, the 31-year-old expressed his surprise at not being named captain after Alexander-Arnold was selected.

 

“To be honest, I was really disappointed,” Salah said to AS. “I accept the manager’s decision, even though I was hoping to be the captain.”

Even during the summer, the topic of the club captaincy reared its head again. Previous skipper Jordan Henderson quit Anfield in a move to Saudi Arabia and was followed by Fabinho, while previous vice-captain James Milner also left.

 

In 2020, Klopp gave the following explanation of how he came to his decision: “I was captain for a long period of my career, and what a heck of a job it is because there are not many benefits you get, just a lot of work with all the things around.”

 

“I didn’t feel the significance of being captain, and I still don’t. Indeed, having a captain like Hendo is crucial, but only for that particular game.

 

“I had no idea how significant that could be to players since everything in this world these days is a major story. I had no idea Trent considered it to be such a huge deal. Jordan Henderson is the member of the players’ committee in this case.