Pundit Paul Merson has slammed Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah after yesterday’s 3-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the match, the former Arsenal hero highlighted the 30-year-old’s huge drop-off in form – uncharacteristic from what we know of the Egyptian.
“Salah looks, I mean, he looks a million miles off,” Merson claimed.
“You’re talking about players who were consistently eight and nine last season but they’re consistently five and six now.”
During the match, the forward failed to make a single shot on target, instead placing two off target (via SofaScore).
Furthermore, he attempted just one dribble all game – which was unsuccessful.
Overall, Salah lost the ball 14 times.
Merson slams Salah’s performance vs Wolves
It’s difficult to admit, but Salah hasn’t been an exception to the drop-off in form this season.
Although he has only scored seven goals in 20 Premier League games, it has more been the lack of general contributions which have been the most worrying aspect of his play this term.
Out on the wing, the attacker plays like a much quieter version of himself. He is no longer this dangerous threat in the final third, and he often goes missing for large parts of the game.
When Salah is on form, he is one of the best in world football. He has demonstrated this year-in year-out at Liverpool, meaning he has become one of the Reds’ most important players during the Jurgen Klopp era.
However, we are seeing no signs of that at the moment.
Liverpool currently have numerous injuries up top, so the manager hasn’t been able to rotate his front-line all that much.
In an ideal world, Salah may be taken out of the starting XI, as he isn’t really contributing much going forward. This isn’t possible right now, so it’s imperative the Egyptian gets back firing as soon as possible.