Coach Arne Slott chose not to call on the Egyptian player despite his team’s slump following the defeat against France. And despite the disappointing result, many supporters wondered why the head coach would leave one of his most talented players, even if he is struggling.
Salah stopped his warm-down and approached TNT’s pitchside desk to speak to Liverpool legends Steven Gerrard and Steve McManaman and shake hands with presenter Laura Woods. And Gerrard sympathized with the winger’s difficult plight.
“(He) will be frustrated,” Gerrard said. “He’s going to be sitting there thinking, certainly from an offensive standpoint, trying to impact this game and back him up to improve the game.
“He’s going to be a little sad and frustrated, but he deserves credit for just staying out there and getting some extra runs.”
“In his mind he’s already thinking about Fulham (who play Liverpool on Saturday) and doing extra work. It shows the professionalism and the mentality with which you deal.”
Supporters may not agree with this reasoning, but Slott made it clear after the match that he had kept Salah in order to limit the damage done in Paris. Desiree Douet and Hviča Kvaratschelia’s strikes set the tone for the night, with the Liverpool manager keen to ensure his team did not concede any more goals.
Asked about Salah’s absence, Slott said: “At the end of the game it was more important to survive than to have a chance to score.” “Last season we got a goal by Harvey Elliott when I took Mo off five minutes before the end, so you never know.
“We were defending in the box for 20-25 minutes. I think it’s better to save his energy for the games we have coming up in the next few weeks. You think we can do better by pressing higher and forcing mistakes. But we were in survival mode for most of the game, and maybe we’ll be in survival mode for the rest of the season.”
Given these comments, Salah will probably be given a chance to play in next Tuesday’s return match at Anfield. And the Reds will need all the attacking support they can get after failing to register a single shot on target during the entire first leg.
