A former Champions League winner with Liverpool believes that the Reds can no longer rely on Salah as their primary goal supply
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Liverpool(Image: Photo by Ben Roberts - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Liverpool cannot rely on goals from Mohamed Salah if they are to keep their Champions League qualification hopes alive this season, according to Dietmar Hamann.
The Reds have endured an unsuccessful Premier League title defence this term and currently sit sixth in the table - outside the qualification spots for Europe's elite competition next season on goal difference.
It is likely that finishing fifth will be enough to make it into next season's Champions League but Arne Slot's side have already lost nine matches during the current campaign and the constant supply of goals from their talisman Salah has dried up.
The Egyptian has only five Premier League goals to his name this season, in stark contrast to his prolific returns over the past eight seasons, although he did score against Wolves last week in both the Premier League defeat and FA Cup victory against the Midlands outfit.
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Speaking about Liverpool's season and Salah in particular to BOYLE Sports, who offer football odds, Hamman said: “They're all struggling, and the issue with Mohamed Salah is that, in the form he's been in over the last decade, he didn't just score and create goals, he created space for others.
“At times, he was unplayable, requiring two players to try to stop him. If you use two players on Salah, that creates space for someone else. I think they all benefited from that, and that's gone now because Salah isn't the force he once was. He scored his first league goal since November or something against Wolves.
“I think it's a combination of a couple of things, but the way the team is playing now, I don't think it's easy for the forwards or wingers to shine because they just don't control games.
“This control is why they were so good last season, it makes it much easier for the forwards to take a chance and maybe take a risk. I don't think they have that now because they're too open at the back. So, I think it's a combination of factors, but it's fair to say Cody Gakpo hasn't played as well as he used to.
“Mohamed Salah has struggled since the Christmas before last. He struggled to score goals from open play, and that hasn't changed, it won't change. He might get the odd goal, but he certainly doesn't have the influence he used to have on Liverpool.
“Hopefully, we'll see a little cameo over the last nine or ten games to get Liverpool into the top five. But I think his best days are behind him.”
Salah joined Liverpool from AS Roma in June 2017 for an initial fee of £36.5million. He has since gone on to win every trophy there is with the Reds, scoring a phenomenal 254 goals in all competitions in the process.
The 33-year-old former Football of the Year has less than 18 months to run on his current contract, but if Liverpool are already thinking about his eventual replacement, Hamman believes he knows just the man for the job.
The ex-German international said: “For Liverpool, Michael Olise would be the perfect fit because he plays on the right-hand side, comes inside. He's been brilliant since he came to Bayern Munich.
“He's been a bit quiet in the last few weeks, but there are other players who decide games. But now with the Champions League starting again, I think we'll probably see the best of him again.
“He’s a wonderful player. I probably couldn't think of a more perfect replacement for Salah than him. Bayern Munich will be reluctant to let him go because I don't think he's got a clause in his contract.
“He seems to be pretty settled and happy here. And if he only wants to play for Barcelona or Real Madrid, then that might not even come into the equation. But yeah, I'm sure that Liverpool will try their utmost to maybe get him out of Munich.”
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