Former Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney is not pursuing his reputation for Mohamed Sarah following the painful defeat in the late period when Liverpool died at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea.
While much of the post-match fallout focuses on heartbreaks of wasted opportunities and downtime, Rooney singled Sarah’s defensive application as a major concern, insisting that dressing room seniors like Virgil van Dik should tackle the issue.
Salah’s outing at Stamford Bridge was well-known for what he didn’t do. The Egyptian forward has missed several opportunities as he is far below the usual score of this campaign and failed to find the net in five of his last seven league appearances.
Wayne Rooney criticizes Mohamed Sara for his defensive job
These mistakes were expensive, but Rooney’s critique went beyond the end and focused straight on the defensive occupational rate.
According to Rooney, Sarah’s positioning and pursuit were inadequate at key moments, with his fullback exposed and contributing to Chelsea’s final 96th minute winner.
Speaking on Wayne Rooney’s show, the former striker said:
“When players come in, Isaac, (Hugo) Ekitique and Wurtz, what do you think now, Sarah?
“Top players have ego and Mo Salah has been one of the best players in the league for a long time.
“I think last week, when it worked, you showed you were scoring goals and winning the game.
“I know he doesn’t always go back and defend, but in Chelsea’s game, his fullback is torn apart and he’s watching.”
Rooney believes that advanced players like Virgil Van Dick and Allison should have a candid conversation with Sara about his defensive duties.
In Rooney’s view, dressing room leadership is not just about the post-winning rally, but also about difficult truths when performance is slow and collective standards slip.
Rooney hopes Liverpool players will communicate with Sarah
He added:
“People like Van Dik and Allison who know I wasn’t playing should tell him that the leader in the dressing room needs to help with it. For me, that was bothering me.
“In my opinion, he seemed a bit lost last week.”
Rooney’s criticism of Sarah is dull, but it’s not without merit. Elite players are judged both by their attack output and their contribution to the team structure.
Liverpool must act on this to stop the execution of concerns before it gets late.
At the moment, they are behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race, but with the chance to win the league and trophies this season, they want to perform at the top of his abilities, being the best player, namely Sarah.
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