Mohamed Salah anger doesn't reveal Liverpool truth as Jurgen Klopp plea misread

Klopp gets wrong reaction to plea

When Jurgen Klopp called for more fight from his Liverpool team, this wasn’t what he had in mind.

The Reds boss becoming embroiled in a strong disagreement with Mohamed Salah on the touchline during the second half of this avoidable draw here at West Ham United made for an ugly sight.

It says much that it was Darwin Nunez who had to act as peacemaker, stepping into the path of Salah as the Egyptian began to visibly remonstrate with his manager as he prepared to be introduced just seconds after the Hammers had dragged themselves level.

For a squad that has forged its success on unshakeable unity throughout the club, this was a rare and very public example of discord within the ranks between the two most prominent figures of this Reds era.

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And it was a pity such fire in the belly was not shown by Liverpool as a collective during the meek Merseyside derby surrender at Goodison on Wednesday.

Klopp, as perhaps expected, was keen to play down the incident afterwards, even if Salah was somewhat less circumspect when passing gathered journalists on leaving the London Stadium after the game. Few would be surprised it there was more to it than either is willing to admit right now.

For those seeking explanations for Liverpool’s faltering title challenge, this disharmony was swiftly highlighted as evidence of a squad in meltdown with a departing manager who has clearly ran out of patience after so long at the helm.

Of course, it isn’t that. The reason the Reds are now primarily targeting the few points still required