Manchester City v Liverpool - Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final
Liverpool were thumped by Manchester City (Picture: Getty)
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol slammed the performance of Mohamed Salah after the Reds were thumped 4-0 by Manchester City in the FA Cup.
A hat-trick from Erling Haaland and a well-taken finish from Antoine Semenyo saw Arne Slot’s side dumped out of the cup competition on Saturday.
There was plenty of attention on Salah pre-match, with the Egyptian making his first appearance since announcing his decision to leave Anfield at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old, who signed for £34million from Roma back in 2017, has struggled for form this season and turned in another disappointing display on Saturday, spurning a great opportunity early on before seeing a penalty saved by James Trafford in the second half.
And former defender Nicol, a five-time league champion with Liverpool, admitted he is flummoxed by how much Salah’s levels of performance have declined this season.
‘This is unprecedented,’ Nicol told ESPN. ‘How can you go from almost winning the Player of the Year last year to this? To the fact that now you don’t look as though you know where the goal is.’
Analysing Salah’s early miss, he added: ‘The fact is, he had plenty of time to get it under control and pick his spot. But his touch is so poor.
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Manchester City v Liverpool - Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final
Salah saw his penalty saved by James Trafford (Picture: Getty)
‘Where’s the power? He’s obviously, his whole body shape’s wrong.
‘And even the penalty kick. He doesn’t have his head up. You watch the majority of people take penalty kicks nowadays.
‘They’re all watching where the goalie is. But Mo is so concentrated and so unsure that he has to concentrate on the ball and make sure he gets a good strike.
Manchester City v Liverpool - Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final
Virgil van Dijk’s performance was also criticised (Picture: Getty)
‘And so all that other stuff that you would normally do with your head up, because you’re confident, has completely and utterly disappeared.’
Elsewhere, former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley called into question the form of Virgil van Dijk after the Dutchman gave away the penalty which opened the floodgates in Manchester.
‘He’s been poor as well,’ Burley said of the Liverpool captain. ‘Two guys that were paid a King’s ransom in the summer, two leaders, he’s the captain, two guys that have taken this Liverpool team on their shoulders in different aspects, have been two of the worst performers.
‘Obviously, [Ibrahima] Konate has had a very, very bad season, but in terms of leadership, positioning and defending with Van Dijk’s quality, he’s been poor.’
Asked about the performances of experienced players like Salah and Van Dijk post-match, Slot said: ‘I wouldn’t like to point out to individuals after a loss like this or after a disappointing season that we are having. I think it’s about the team.
‘Mo [Salah] had a few good chances, which is always important because you want players like him to get chances, and I think that’s what in general we did this season, getting him or other players in good positions.
‘Unfortunately, if you look at not only today but the whole season, the amount of goals we scored is far too low for the amount of chances we created, but definitely for the Liverpool standard.’
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