Liverpool legend Steve Nicholl believes Arne Slot should drop Mohamed Salah, as the Egyptian star is not contributing anything to the team.
The Reds’ difficult season continues, with a 0-3 away defeat to Manchester City delivering another major blow to their Premier League title defense. It was their 5th loss in 11 league games, leaving Liverpool 8th in the table and 8 points behind leaders Arsenal. Like most of the squad, Salah has been in poor form, failing to produce game-changing performances as frequently as he did last season.
Nicholl, who won four top-flight titles with Liverpool, insists it’s time to remove the Egyptian from the starting lineup—at least temporarily—because keeping him in the team has not brought out his best.
Q: When asked by Camel Live if he would drop Salah, Nicholl replied: "Yes, I would bench him. The question is, who replaces him? You have to try something to get him close to his best, and so far, playing him, playing him, playing him isn’t working."
“I got excited when he scored a couple of goals in a few games, but beyond those two goals, his overall performance hasn’t changed much. Now the only other thing you can do is put him on the bench. Sit down, watch, maybe a different perspective will help. Then bring him back in the next game and see if it yields better results. Unfortunately, he’s at a stage where Liverpool can no longer carry him—that’s simply it.”
Q: It was put to Nicholl that with the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) starting next month, Slot may be looking to use Salah as much as possible before he becomes unavailable.
“Unfortunately, there’s an answer to that: what’s the point? The guy isn’t giving you anything! You can look at it another way and say: ‘He’ll be gone for two or three months, so we might as well try to find a solution now. Why wait for someone who isn’t contributing? I need to be proactive. I can’t sit back and let things happen, then hope and pray someone waves a magic wand to turn him back into the ‘Egyptian King’ again. I absolutely think Slot needs to take action, and personally, I’d bench him.”
AFCON runs from December 21 to January 18, so Salah won’t be absent for "two or three months" unless injured—but Egypt are one of the favorites to go far in the tournament. Slot did bench Salah in last month’s 5-1 Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt, but the manager insisted after the game he was not worried about the star’s form.
"The main thing is, he’s always scored goals for Liverpool," Slot said at a press conference. “The last thing I’m worried about is Salah scoring again. He’s done it his entire career, and I expect him to do it again in the coming weeks and months.”
The 33-year-old has been criticized for his lack of defensive work rate, a flaw that stands out even more when he’s not scoring or assisting. "Salah’s job in the team is to score and create goals—he’s been one of the best players in the Premier League for the last six or seven years—but in big games, you have to defend," Wayne Rooney said in an interview with Camel Live.
“You have to track back and help your teammates. Bradley had a really tough game today, left out there on his own. Gravenberch tried to cover for him, but that leaves gaps elsewhere. I think Salah has to do more to help his teammates defensively.”
