Rio Ferdinand doesn’t think that Liverpool should drop Mohamed Salah despite his recent poor form.
The Egyptian King may have scored a few goals here and there, but by his usual standards, he’s been miles off the pace.
Arne Slot has chosen to start Federico Chiesa over him a couple of times already this season, but even the Italian hasn’t been at his best this term.
Due to Salah’s underperformance, some fans have called for Liverpool to drop him to the bench or even move him on.
Ferdinand thinks this stance is “crazy” and believes that the Egyptian King should still be one of the Reds’ key men.
Rio Ferdinand questions why Liverpool fans want Mohamed Salah to be moved on
There’s no hiding from the fact that Salah hasn’t been his usual self this season.
However, the attacker recently got his 250th goal for the Anfield outfit and is one of the main reasons why they won the Premier League title last term.
Things haven’t been the best in L4 this term, but after they spent over £450 million on new players, a bit of a transitional period was to be expected.
And even though the Reds haven’t been in the best form recently, they’re still third in the Premier League table, with Ferdinand confused by some Liverpool fans not wanting anything to do with their star man anymore.
“How long has Mo Salah been at Liverpool? Seven, eight years? Top scorer, breaking all sorts of records, and I’m seeing people, because he’s had a bit of a couple of months off it, or maybe three or four months off it in some people’s lives, right,” he said on the Rio Ferdinand Presents Podcast.
“He shouldn’t start. We should get rid of him. Are you crazy?
“He’s given you seven or eight years of absolute, like ridiculous numbers and ridiculous output, got you winning again, and you’re going after a little dizzy spell out of it, of out of confidence, maybe he’s dropped or whatever, a form’s gone a little bit, and you’re going, let’s get someone else in.
“You are nuts.”
Mohamed Salah must continue to be a regular starter for Liverpool this season
Salah may have had a few months where he’s not been at his best, but compared to some of the other options Liverpool have available to them, the Egyptian King still deserves a starting place.
His finishing is among the best in the world, and once Salah gets used to how Alexander Isak and others, such as Florian Wirtz play, there’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that he’s going to come good once again.
These things take time, and with the amount of change that Liverpool have been put through by Slot and Richard Hughes, it’s impressive that they even managed to string together a fair few wins at the start of the season.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  ArsenalArsenal | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 15 | 25 |
| 2 |  Manchester CityManchester City | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 19 |
| 3 |  LiverpoolLiverpool | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 18 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
| 5 |  BournemouthBournemouth | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 18 |
| 6 |  TottenhamTottenham | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 17 |
Liverpool’s next game is set to come against Real Madrid in the Champions League, and with the performance that Salah put in against Aston Villa on Saturday, it feels like he could be back to his best.
His movement both on and off the ball, coupled with his keen eye for a pass, made it clear that the creative spark he had last season is soon going to show its face once again.
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