BLUE ROO AT SUB SNUB
EVERTON 0 LIVERPOOL 0
SAM ALLARDYCE insisted “no one is too big to come off” as Wayne Rooney turned the air blue after being subbed in the Merseyside Derby.
Rooney (left) uttered an obscenity as he angrily made his way past Allardyce. It
was the second Saturday running that the Everton boss had hauled off the former England skipper — and this time the humiliation appeared to get to Rooney.
But Allardyce insisted that if it was the correct decision to make for the good of the team, a player’s status was no protection from the hook.
He added: “No one is too big to come off. I would expect a reaction like that. It’s a Merseyside derby. He’s a proud Evertonian.
“I make the decisions and I think everyone would agree all three substitutions made a difference when they came on.
“I make these decisions for the benefit of the team as a whole, not one individual.
“Everyone would agree that Liverpool were a lot happier at hearing the final whistle.”
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp faces a race against time to have 38-goal Mo Salah fit for Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final second leg against Manchester City.
Asked whether Salah’s groin strain would heal in time for him to play a part at the Etihad Stadium, the German retorted: “I don’t get a ticker tape every five minutes telling me about him. We will have to see.”
Klopp also started the game with Roberto Firmino on the bench in readiness for defending the 3-0 lead from the first leg.
He was relieved to come away with a goalless draw, and added: “We were not here to have a wild derby. We did well considering I changed five positions.”