If four different Liverpool players score on any given day, it is virtually a guarantee that one of them will be Mohamed Salah. Or, at least, it used to be.
That the Egyptian was not amongst the scorers during Saturday’s 5-2 win over West Ham, however, was anything but a shock.
Salah made it 10 Premier League games without a goal in miserable fashion, barely getting into a game which was as open as they come.
It was the latest sad instalment of a season which has quickly turned into a disaster for Salah, with many now predicting a Liverpool exit this summer. If the 33-year-old is to depart, it looks likely to be having relinquished his status as a key man with the Reds.
But that does not mean that Salah cannot still be important for Liverpool this season, and it is time for Arne Slot to have an honest conversation about getting the best out of him as an impact substitute.
Salah has to accept substitute role
Throughout Salah’s nine years at Liverpool he has retained his status as a nailed-on starter, and deservedly so.
As his outspoken reaction to being named on the bench for three consecutive games in December showed, he will not accept being out of the team. Slot, and Jurgen Klopp before him, knew this, and as long as the No. 11 was scoring goals and affecting games there was no reason to leave him out.
Arne Slot speaks to Mohamed Salah during Liverpool's UEFA Champions League match against Atletico Madrid at Anfield.
Photo by Richard Martin-Roberts – CameraSport via Getty Images
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At the moment, though, Salah is about as far from being effective as it is possible to get. He created nothing at all against West Ham, had only one, wildly off-target, shot and touched the ball just 46 times.
The pace of games seems to be troubling him, and by the time the latter stages of matches arrives, he is all out of puff.
There are still moments where Salah looks like the player of old, however, and he must now accept that the only way to retain those pieces of brilliance is to put fewer minutes in his legs. From now on, the Liverpool legend must become a player Slot turns to second halves of matches.
Salah still has plenty to offer Liverpool
There is a narrative surrounding Salah that he has become a problem for Slot realising his preferred formation with the Reds and that he is slowly chipping away at his legacy at Liverpool.
While neither of these things are especially true, it is correct that Slot’s best XI should not include the Egypt captain anymore.
Did anyone actually deserve man of the match against West Ham? 😆
If so, who was it?
Alexis Mac Allister during Liverpool v West Ham United - Premier League
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Jeremie Frimpong showed his threat again on Saturday and his pace can be a weapon that helps Salah as well.
If Frimpong starts at right wing, he can tire his full-back out before Salah comes on to replace him in the final portion of the game.
This way, it will be more possible for the former Basel man to impact Liverpool in a positive way. He can still score plenty of goals from the bench, and Salah must accept this for his own good, as well as the team’s.
Could he take this into next season?
The obvious issue with Salah accepting a more bit-part role – as well as the player’s own potential hostility towards it – is that Liverpool are paying him the biggest contract in the club’s history.
While Salah is deserving of that for what he has given the club over nearly a decade, from a purely business point of view that makes little sense.
If the veteran winger accepts that he is no longer a regular starter and is happy to play that role for the good of the team until his contract ends in 2027, it could still lead to a greater chance of success on the pitch for Liverpool.
Nevertheless, the Reds hierarchy are unlikely to see things that way, and as every ineffective Salah performance passes, the chance of him staying beyond this season grows less and less. This new role should only be a three-month thing, but it would be a more dignified way for such a legendary player to exit than what we are currently seeing on the pitch.
Something has to change, and though it may not be easy for the Egyptian King, he must accept that.
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