Mikel Obi Blasts Jamie Carragher Over Mohamed Salah Criticism

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has launched a fierce defence of Mohamed Salah after Jamie Carragher criticised the Liverpool forward for speaking out over his lack of playing time this season.

Salah, who turned 33 earlier this year, enjoyed a remarkable campaign last term, scoring 34 goals and supplying 23 assists in 52 appearances across all competitions.

That form earned him a fourth-place finish in the 2025 Ballon d’Or rankings. This season, however, has been more turbulent, both on and off the pitch.

Despite Liverpool investing more than £446m in the summer on Jeremie Frimpong, Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez, results have been inconsistent.

Arne Slot’s decision to bench Salah for three consecutive matches, before leaving him out of the squad entirely for the Champions League clash against Inter Milan, raised eyebrows, even though the Reds won the game.

Salah later voiced his frustration to the media, suggesting he had been treated unfairly by the manager. That public stance did not sit well with Carragher, who accused the Egyptian of throwing the club under the bus during a heated debate on CBS Sports Golazo.

The former Liverpool defender also revisited Salah’s early struggles at Chelsea and pointed to his failure to win a major international trophy with Egypt.

When Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge reminded Carragher that the AFCON is a major tournament on par with the Euros and Copa America, he reportedly dismissed the argument, much to the annoyance of Mikel.

Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, Mikel Obi said: “To always, for some reason, criticise African football and African players. We’re talking about Liverpool here, about the Premier League, and you have somebody sit there in the studio criticising Mo Salah and saying he’s never won the African Cup of Nations, criticising him.

“He’s qualified for two World Cups but hasn’t won the African Cup of Nations. What has that got to do with the Premier League?

“What has that got to do with what we’re talking about? He thinks that African football or African players do not deserve to be at the highest stage of World football.

“Why does he talk about Mo Salah’s failure at Chelsea? People fail. It’s about how they get up. Look at what he’s done for Liverpool!

“You learn more from failure; you get better from failing. It’s how you get up, and Mo Salah got up, got stronger and became a better player.

“For somebody to criticise a young player and call that a failure, especially coming from someone who’s nowhere near what Salah has achieved.

“He [Carragher] did not win the Premier League, nor did he win anything with his national team. Abandoned his national team, honestly, because he wasn’t playing, and now he’s criticising someone for speaking out that he wants to play when he quit because he wasn’t playing.

“Mo Salah doesn’t want to quit when it’s tough. He wants to get the team out of the sticky patch. That’s who 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 he wants to play? Yes.”