I saw Mohamed Salah reduced to tears after brutal dressing room criticism
Mohamed Salah endured a tough period in his footballing career prior to reaching the heights with Liverpool
Mourinho and Salah worked together at Chelsea
John Obi Mikel has detailed the moment when former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made Liverpool star Mohamed Salah cry.
The Reds forward has enjoyed a formidable goalscoring and goal contributing run at Anfield following his move from AS Roma. During his time on Merseyside, Salah has won everything available to him including the Premier League, Champions League and personal accolades such as the Golden Boot in the English top-flight.
Salah has smashed his way into the conversation among the world elite but there was a time when the Egyptian was struggling for form in England, during his first spell in the Premier League at Chelsea. He managed just 19 appearances between 2014 and 2016, scoring just twice.
His bow in the United Kingdom would come under outspoken tactician, Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager helped the Londoners to the pinnacle of English football during his multiple spells at Stamford Bridge, with a host of high-profile jobs following his time in West London.
A former teammate of Salah’s, Mikel, has detailed an incident at half-time which left the now-Liverpool star in “tears”. During the interval of one of the Egyptian’s outings for Chelsea, Mourinho handed him a dressing down before dragging him off after 45 minutes.
“He (Salah) was unlucky because Jose Mourinho, the manager at the time, didn’t take any prisoners. It doesn’t matter who you are, I remember a game away he had a go at Mo Salah at half-time and he was in tears, he was crying,” he said on the Obi One Podcast.
“We thought he was going to put him back on the pitch but he destroyed him and brought him off but that was his mentality back then.
“I don’t think he would do that now, he has become more mature, he knows how to deal with younger players, that’s how he got the best out of us then and that’s why we were successful.”
