Mohamed Salah absence theory rubbished as Arne Slot told to take drastic Liverpool action

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol has delivered a blunt verdict on Arne Slot’s potential Mohamed Salah decision before the club’s clash with Nottingham Forest after the international break

Liverpool legend Steve Nicol believes that Arne Slot should drop Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian’s disappointing start to the campaign. Salah is among several Liverpool stars who have failed to hit their stride in the opening months of the new season.

After netting 29 goals in 38 Premier League outings during the club’s title-winning campaign, the 33-year-old has been unable to match those heights this term. Slot’s squad appears to be enduring a testing spell, with costly new arrivals including Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak also failing to deliver.

Following eleven matches, Liverpool find themselves languishing in eighth position – trailing pacesetters Arsenal by eight points. Salah has notched five goals and three assists across his 16 outings this season, yet the Egyptian international lacks his usual sharpness and cutting edge.

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When questioned whether Slot should contemplate benching Salah, Nicol delivered a blunt response. He told ESPN FC: “Yes I would. The second part of the question is, for who?

“You have to try and figure a way out to get him back to somewhere near his best. And so far, playing him and playing him and playing him isn’t working.

“I got excited when he scored a couple of goals in a couple of games [against Brentford and Aston Villa], but his overall performance hasn’t really changed much other than those two goals.

“Now the only other thing you can do is sit him on the bench. Sit down, have a look, maybe a different perspective.

“Then play him the next game and let’s see if there’s any sort of reaction because unfortunately he’s reached the stage now where the team can’t carry him anymore. Simple as that.”

When asked if Slot might be maximising Salah’s playtime ahead of the African Cup of Nations next month, Nicol responded with a straightforward answer.

“Unfortunately there’s an answer to that: What is the point?” Nicol declared. “The guy is not giving you anything!”.

“You could look at it the other way and say: ‘He’s going to be away for two or three months so we may as well try and figure something out now. Why am I going to wait on a guy who’s giving me nothing? I need to be proactive here. I can’t just sit on my hands and let it happen and hope and pray that all of a sudden somebody waves a magic wand and he becomes the Egyptian King again.'”.

“I absolutely think he needs to do something and my own personal opinion, I would sit him.”

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