Revealed: Mohamed Salah ‘problem’ emerges after Liverpool axe pre-Brentford
Mohamed Salah has a “problem” at Liverpool as the spotlight on his wretched form increases following his midweek axe ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford.
Slot’s side beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League on 22 October, putting an end to a run of four straight defeats across all competitions.
The Reds lost against Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and Man United, raising concerns about their sudden dip in form given the money they spent in the summer.
As a result, former Man United chief scout Mick Brown told Football Insider on 23 October that Slot is worried about four Liverpool stars, with “major concerns” growing.
Among those players were Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, the usually ever-reliable linchpins of this Liverpool side, with the Egyptian in particular causing problems.
Mohamed Salah ‘problem’ revealed at Liverpool
Salah was dropped to the bench during the win against Frankfurt, missing the majority of the game before replacing Hugo Ekitike after 74 minutes.
As I revealed on the latest edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the winger has come under fire for his performances with his stats showing a significant drop off from his performances in their title-winning season last time out.
His main “problem”, however, is the high expectations he has set with his performances in recent years, making the recent dip in form even more noticeable.
Speaking on the Inside Track podcast, I explained: “Yeah, I think it’s easy speculation. He’s been nowhere near his best form, there’s no getting away from that.
“The problem for most Mohamed Salah is that he sets such high expectations. Look at the numbers he produced last season, the goals and assists, he was the catalyst for their success.
“But he’s struggled this year and his number have dropped significantly, the goals and assists, and even the chances created.
“As you said, he has come under bit of fire for some of those performances, but I don’t think there’ll be any growing pressure from within Liverpool.
“They know what Mohamed Salah can do, what he can bring to the team as well.
“I’m sure Liverpool will be confident that when Salah gets back to form that he’ll start producing the goods again as he has always done for them.”
Salah is not the only player under fire for his performances, however, as questions continue to be asked of both Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz after their arrivals.
Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz slammed at Liverpool
Brown told Football Insider on 21 October that Isak and Wirtz are causing concerns for Liverpool as they have so far failed to adapt since making big-money moves.
After Liverpool spent £446million on summer signings, the expectation was that they would blow teams away with their high-value squad, but that has not been the case.
The two summer signings, each of whom were British records at the time of their arrivals, are now major worries for Liverpool alongside their poor form.
Inside the next three weeks, the Reds will face Crystal Palace, Aston Villa, Real Madrid and Man City, all of whom have caused problems for Slot’s side in previous encounters.
They are expecting to see an upturn in form from a number of key players, with pressure now on their new arrivals to step up their games.
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