Chris Sutton has claimed that Jurgen Klopp faces an ‘issue’ with one Liverpool player who’s ‘not been at his sharpest’ in recent weeks.
It comes as no surprise that Mo Salah is yet again top of the Reds’ scoring charts this season with 23 goals so far, although that hasn’t prevented him from coming under some scrutiny of late.
In his weekly Premier League predictions column for BBC Sport, the ex-Blackburn striker wrote: “One issue for Jurgen Klopp’s side is that Mohamed Salah has not been at his sharpest since he has come back from injury – he has been missing chances that you expect him to put away.”
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Since returning from injury in early March, Salah has netted four goals in eight games – not a drought by any means, but also perhaps not quite the ratio we’ve come to expect from a man who’s netted 209 times in 341 Liverpool appearances (Transfermarkt).
Sutton makes a valid point about the 31-year-old missing chances that he’d usually score – his skied effort on the rebound from an Andre Onana save in the second half at Old Trafford last Sunday springs to mind – and like the team as a whole, he was worryingly ineffective after coming on against Atalanta on Thursday.
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A meagre tally of seven completed passes in 45 minutes on the pitch summed up the Egyptian’s tepid outing (Sofascore), as well as LFC’s overall ineptitude on a horrible night at Anfield.
Salah hasn’t been at his best in recent weeks admittedly, but he’s one player who carries a sense of being able to score at any time, even if his general performance is subdued.
It must also be taken into account that he’s barely had any let-up until he got injured at the Africa Cup of Nations in January, and at least he’ll have this summer off to recharge the batteries.
In the meantime, he could still have an enormous effect on Liverpool’s season. You simply don’t keep a man of Mo Salah’s talents quiet for long.
It is too absurd to rely the fate of a team on one person. We were better of without Salah for the last two months. It is better to bench him to bring back the cohesion of the team. He is out of form and ineffective. At the moment, he is a liability than an inspiration.
You are very quick to judge him. I agree that a team cannot depend on one player. But I disagree that keeping him on the bench will help him find his form, as well as with the notion that we are better off without him. I think that in the two United games, it would have been a bigger disaster without him.
Definitely a liability. We did very well without him.
Salah scored 23 goals in all competitions so far, still you want to bench him? How about Nunez who keep missed bunches of opportunity?
The issue that Klopp facing right now is he still cannot find Mane replacer
What on earth is the team doing. Missing clear chances after chances. If it’s not the strikers then midfielders losing possessions to opponents who passes through loose marking defenders to score us. Ee come on guys we want that trophy coend of season