With their title defence slowly but surely slipping out of their grasp, Arne Slot's 50th Premier League match in charge of Liverpool was marked with a humiliating 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Very few players covered themselves with glory, but Wayne Rooney has urged Slot to drop Mohamed Salah moving forward.
It's crazy to think that Liverpool, who are now on 18 points and sitting 11th in the Premier League table, won last campaign at a relative canter – but the tide has turned, and their recent loss was their sixth of the season. In 2024/25 alone, Slot's Reds lost just four times as they ran away as the champions of England's top flight.
Before the international break, it was Manchester City who handed Liverpool a 3-0 loss and, therefore, putting Slot's position as boss in danger – and their recent 3-0 defeat to Sean Dyche's men at Anfield has only worsened the pressure on the shoulders of the Dutch tactician. But why has Rooney suggested Slot should drop Salah to the bench?
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Rooney Explains Why Slot Should Drop Salah to the Bench
As things go bad to worse for the Premier League's reigning champions, Liverpool have now conceded six unanswered goals in their last two league outings – and things could get even worse should Slot stick to his guns and refuse to shake things up going forward. Up next, the Reds face PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League before travelling to London next weekend to lock horns with West Ham United.
In a bid to spark the Merseyside-based outfit back into a winning run of form, Rooney has called on Slot and his entourage to drop Salah back to the bench. "If I was [Arne] Slot, I'd try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team. Salah is not helping them defensively," the former striker said on his latest podcast.
Delving into further detail as to why Salah – who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in Premier League history – should be reduced to a role on the bench following his lackadaisical performances since their curtain-raiser in August, Rooney pointed to his effort, or lack thereof, when Slot's men do not have the ball. He said:
"If you're one of the players who they've signed and you're on the bench and you've seen him not running – and again he's a club legend and everything he's done for the club – but if you're on the bench, then what message does that send to you?
liverpool mohamed salah
"When you're not winning games, you want to stay compact and hard to beat," Rooney continued. "While I think they're going through this period, 100% he [Slot] needs to make a decision and get them compact, get them hard to beat and every player running back and then when they start winning games you can bring him back in and hope that he is running back more. I think that will have an impact on the team for sure."
Incredibly, it was just last season when the Egypt international became the first player in the entire history of the Premier League to finish with the most goals and assists and win the Player of the Season award. All in all, the seasoned winger registered 57 goal involvements (34 goals and 23 assists) in all competitions.
From a Premier League perspective, he notched 29 goals and a further 18 assists as he spearheaded Liverpool to their second-ever post-1992 title with four matches to spare. His downturn in form, though, has seen him plunder just five goals in 17 appearances thus far – and some time away from action could rejuvenate his goal-getting exploits.
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In terms of who could replace him on the right flank, Jeremie Frimpong – a right-back by trade and signed by Slot in the summer of 2025 – could be an option. In the long-term, though, the Reds could look at the likes of Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo, who is open to a move to Anfield, and Bradley Barcola of Paris Saint-Germain to replace the talismanic wide man.