Former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, has fired back at Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher over what he described as unfair and disrespectful criticism of Mohamed Salah.
Carragher had taken aim at the Egyptian forward following his comments in the mixed zone at Elland Road earlier this month, accusing Salah of speaking out to “cause maximum damage.”
The former Liverpool defender also suggested Salah arrived at Anfield “known as the man who failed at Chelsea.”
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Mikel strongly condemned Carragher’s remarks, accusing him of downplaying Salah’s immense impact at Liverpool and showing little regard for African players and their competitions.
“We are talking about Liverpool here, we are talking about the Premier League, and you have somebody sat there in the studio, criticizing Mo Salah, and saying Mo Salah has never won the Africa Cup of Nations — that’s a failure, criticizing him.
“He’s qualified for two World Cups, but he hasn’t won the Africa Cup of Nations. What’s that got to do with the Premier League? What’s that got to do with what we’re talking about?
“For some reason, why do you talk about Mo Salah being a failure at Chelsea? People fail – it’s about how you get the f— up.
“Look what he’s done since he failed at Chelsea. You learn more from failure, you get better from failure.. It’s how you get up when you fall, when you’re down there, and Mo Salah did that after Chelsea. He got up, he became stronger and became a better player.
“For somebody to criticize a young player at his early stages, to call that a failure – and that’s just coming from somebody that never won anything near what Mo Salah won.
“[Carragher] did not win the Premier League, did not win anything with his national team – abandoned his national team, honestly, because he wasn’t playing, and yet you are the player that is criticizing somebody for speaking out that he wants to play, but you retired because you were not playing. You quit because you were not playing.
“Mo Salah does not want to quit when it’s tough, when it’s difficult, he wants to be there and get the team out of this sticky patch, help the team, get the team back to where it belongs. That’s what you call a true leader, a true champion. Do I condone what Salah did? Not all of it. But has he earned the right to say I want to play football? Yes.”
Mikel’s comments underline his belief that Salah’s achievements, resilience, and leadership far outweigh the criticism directed at him, insisting the Liverpool star has earned the right to speak his mind.
