Mohamed Salah is having a lean time of it in front of goal, but he is still capable of moments of magic
Mohamed Salah still possesses the quality to inspire Liverpool
Mohamed Salah still possesses the quality to inspire Liverpool(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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In the immediate, emotional aftermath of a fixture that is always one of the most intense in the Premier League calendar, managers should not be judged too harshly if they say something rash, or controversial, or ill-advised.
Especially if a match ends in the tumultuous fashion in which the latest instalment of Liverpool-Manchester City ended.
When Graeme Souness managed Liverpool in the early nineties, he was all in favour of a cool-down period of, say, an hour or so, when a manager could gather himself and his thoughts after the psychological strain of watching his team’s fluctuating fortunes over the previous hour and a half-plus.
But the idea of the media - in particular, television - waiting for an hour before getting any post-match content was a complete non-starter.
For goodness sake, the TV people now want to interview managers and players in the middle of a game. They are not going to wait an hour after a match.
So, what we get is often knee-jerk. Emotion rather than analysis.
It can produce great TV, Kevin Keegan’s ‘I would love it’ rant still having a case for being the best post-match TV interview of the Premier League era.
But it should always be remembered that everything - particularly defeat - is raw. Think how you feel as a fan.
As a rule, Arne Slot is as level-headed as any manager in the Premier League. There has been a lot of late pain in matches for Slot this season but, somehow, he normally gives a well-considered reflection on proceedings.
So, he can be forgiven for the slightly flimsy take on the Marc Guehi-Mohamed Salah incident in the second half, the Liverpool manager claiming the City defender was lucky not to be sent off.
It happened towards the corner of the penalty area, a defender had a good chance of covering and it was a hand on the shoulder.
Slot’s contention was that anyone who has watched Salah over the last eight years knows he scores from that position ‘100 times’.
True. But anyone who has watched 33-year-old Salah over the last eight footballing months knows that is no longer the case.
In his 24 Premier League appearances since signing a new contract in April, Salah has scored six goals and registered six assists.
In his 24 Premier League appearances prior to signing a new contract in April, Salah scored 23 goals and registered 13 assists.
The drop-off in the performance of the entire squad is a fundamental reason behind the fall in Salah’s numbers but the dip in his own form cannot be ignored when looking at the startling drop in goal involvements.
The statistics cannot be ignored but although Slot probably knows he was a little bit fanciful in thinking a finish would have been a formality for Salah had Guehi not intervened, the Liverpool manager has to keep the faith.
For once in his Liverpool career, Salah’s statistics are not great but he still caused consternation in City ranks on Sunday. His cross for the Hugo Ekitike miss was a peach and he had fooled Guehi before the City man fouled.
Earlier this season, Salah, for the first time in his Liverpool career, went seven Premier League games without scoring a non-penalty goal. Heading into the game at Sunderland, he has now gone seven Premier League games without any sort of goal.
But in Salah’s five club matches since returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty, Liverpool have scored 16 goals.
That they have lost two of those matches tells you the more pressing issue for Slot might be elsewhere.
Had Guehi not pulled him back, there was, contrary to Slot’s observation, no guarantee Salah would have scored.
But it is coming. Slot and Liverpool fans just have to keep the faith.