The 40-year-old shared his opinions in a podcast, where he criticized Liverpool’s star player, Salah, and questioned his leadership qualities when compared to Messi and Ronaldo. He specifically highlighted Salah’s role as a leader for Egypt and compared it to Messi’s leadership for Argentina and Ronaldo’s for Portugal. Mido also noted that Salah did not wear the captain’s armband for Liverpool, which he interpreted as evidence of Salah’s lack of leadership skills on the pitch. He further suggested that Salah’s performance at Liverpool would have been negatively impacted if he had been made the team captain.
In his analysis, Mido questioned whether Salah had the same commanding presence and influence on the pitch as Messi and Ronaldo, particularly in terms of directing players in high-pressure situations like penalty kicks. He also referenced Salah’s experience as captain for Egypt, implying that it had a detrimental effect on his performance and suggesting that he would have been better off without the added responsibility. Mido, who previously played for Tottenham Hotspur in England, expressed doubt that Salah could handle the captaincy role at Liverpool and maintained that Salah would have struggled to maintain his level of performance if he had been given the captain’s armband.