Mohamed Salah enjoyed the best season of his career last season as Liverpool won the Premier League, but it hasn’t been so easy this time around.
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has warned manager Arne Slott against using Mohamed Salah if the Egyptian continues to struggle. Salah was the Premier League’s top scorer last season but has only scored four goals in 11 games this season.
Salah started all 11 of those games, often playing the full 90 minutes. He only started two of the Reds’ four Champions League games, scoring against Atlético Madrid but missing against Madrid’s other club, Real.
Salah will miss games against Egypt, who are favorites to win the African Cup of Nations, in December and January. Slott will need to find a way to win without their forwards during that period, but Carragher believes the time to shuffle the pack could come even earlier.
“If you can’t score goals at one end and you’re exposing yourself to the team at the other end, there’s basically nothing to be gained from this tactic that only allows Mo Salah to stay on top,” Carragher told The Overlap. “So he has to either come back (defensively) or play with other guys.
“That’s why I said a few weeks ago that Mo Salah’s days, especially starting every week away from home, should be over.” Meanwhile, fellow pundit Wayne Rooney voiced his own concerns, suggesting that opponents were targeting Liverpool’s right flank in the hopes that Salah’s lack of track back could isolate right-backs such as Conor Bradley and Jeremy Frimpong.
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Carragher’s comments came after fellow former Red Steve Nicholl made his own case for Slott to release Salah.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to get him back to near his best, and right now we’re not having a good time playing him or playing him,” Nicol told ESPN FC.
“I was excited when he scored a few goals in a few games (against Brentford and Aston Villa), but his overall performance hasn’t changed much apart from those two goals. All we can do now is put him on the bench. Sit back and watch, maybe you’ll get a different perspective.”
“Then let’s play him in the next game and see if there’s any reaction. Unfortunately he’s reached the point where teams can’t use him anymore. It’s simple.”
Liverpool will return to action after the international break with a home match against Nottingham Forest on November 22nd. Just four days later there is a Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven, and the month ends with an away game to West Ham.
Salah is currently traveling with his national team for the Al Ain International Cup. In this friendly tournament, Egypt will play against Cape Verde, Iran and Uzbekistan, who have qualified for the World Cup.
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