Overview

• Rooney criticized Salah’s lack of defensive tracking in Liverpool’s 2-1 loss at Chelsea, pointing to Marc Cucurella’s stoppage-time run that led to the winner.
• He said Virgil van Dijk and other senior figures should confront the issue with Salah in the dressing room.
• Rooney linked the scrutiny to a dip in form, noting Salah has scored twice across his last seven league matches.
• He floated tactical tweaks, suggesting Salah could move inside with Florian Wirtz operating wide, and called the international break a useful reset.
• Reports revisited Salah’s agreement with Slot to conserve energy without the ball, a trade-off that delivered 47 league goal involvements and a title last season but is now under debate.