Mohamed Salah is experiencing the biggest slump of his Liverpool era. Should the Egyptian be benched now? And what is the reason for his failure?
When Mohamed Salah plays against Manchester United, there is usually a spectacular show from the Egyptian. Since the right winger has been playing for Liverpool, he has collected an incredible 22 goal contributions in just 17 games against the Red Devils until Sunday. In Premier League history, no player has more scoring points in this historic duel.
However, in his 18th encounter against United, this Mohamed Salah was hardly recognizable. Just like Liverpool, Salah is in the midst of a sporting crisis. In the 1:2 defeat in front of the home crowd at Anfield Road, the 33-year-old made numerous mistakes and fell miles short of expectations. British media rated the left-footer as one of the worst players on the pitch.
Salah misses Wirtz and fails miserably
One scene in particular drew heavy criticism: In the 65th minute, the Egyptian found himself completely free in front of the opponent’s goal after a cross from left-back Milos Kerkez – but from five meters, Salah sent the ball clearly wide of the goal.
Mo Salah misses from a promising position and overlooks Florian Wirtz
At least as bad, however, was that Salah overlooked a completely unmarked Florian Wirtz. The German was standing to the left of the Egyptian in a much better shooting position and even demanded the ball before throwing his hands over his head in disbelief after Salah’s miss.
What is telling about the scene is that teammate Curtis Jones was already starting to celebrate because he was so sure of Salah’s finishing chance.
Carragher demands bench for Salah
Reds legend Jamie Carragher, in his role as a TV expert, even called for questioning Salah’s previously undisputed role in the starting lineup.
“We have now reached a point with Salah where he should no longer play every game. He should no longer be the first name on the team sheet,” Carragher stated on Sky Sports and found it “interesting” that Salah was substituted despite being behind shortly before the end.
For the 47-year-old, the Egyptian still fundamentally belongs to the Reds’ best eleven but should no longer be the ever-present: “You have to consider that Liverpool now has two away games against Frankfurt and Brentford – and I don’t think he will play in both matches.”
Neville proposes Salah theory
Gary Neville referred to these statements in his own podcast and described that he sees initial signs of a performance decline – not physically, but technically.
“I don’t see him physically declining – some of his sprints look pretty good, he seems very active in the penalty area. But there are crazy things, like the ball that comes to the far post… his technique in shooting and crossing, that’s what looks quite wrong,” explained the United legend. “There were a few moments today where you thought: ‘That’s not Mo Salah.'”
Mohamed Salah is currently going through a form slump
Upon closer examination, however, it becomes clear that these moments against Manchester United were not the first time. Compared to his high standards, Salah is only a shadow of his former self. In the Premier League, the Egyptian has two goals and two assists to his name, although one was from a penalty.
Concerning statistics from Salah
Salah is not only failing directly in front of goal. The Egyptian is also getting into shooting situations much less frequently. Per 90 minutes, Salah only averages 0.30 expected goals, according to fbref data. So the 33-year-old is clearly less often in promising positions in front of goal.
In the past eight years at Liverpool, Salah averaged 0.64 expected goals per 90 minutes, meaning his chances have more than halved.
A clear performance decline is also evident in expected assists. This season, it’s 0.18 per 90 minutes. Last year it was still 0.38, and the year before even 0.42 expected assists per 90 minutes. So Salah is also creating fewer chances for his teammates.
Currently, his dribbling success rate is a meager ten percent. On average, it was 46.9 percent over the last eight seasons.
The crucial question about Salah
But why is this happening, where does this sudden performance decline come from? After all, it wasn’t long ago that Salah dominated England thoroughly.
With 28 goals and 19 assists in 38 Premier League games, Salah had shot Liverpool to the championship last season.
The crucial question is: Is Salah playing so poorly because Liverpool is playing so poorly? Or is Liverpool playing so poorly because Salah is playing so poorly? Neither version is likely to be answered quickly, and the answer probably lies somewhere in between.