Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher has suggested that Arne Slot demanding more defensively from Mohamed Salah could be behind his sluggish start to the campaign. The Egyptian winger has struggled for consistency during the opening weeks of the season, finding the net on just three occasions.
This represents a stark contrast to his brilliant previous campaign, during which Salah bagged 34 goals and propelled Liverpool to Premier League glory. In seeking to explain Salah’s faltering displays, Carragher reckons that Slot’s choice to burden the 33-year-old with defensive duties, having been freed from such responsibilities in previous seasons, could be a key factor.
This has resulted in opposition sides targeting Salah’s flank, which has inevitably forced the forward to drop deeper.
Writing for The Telegraph, Carragher explained: “From a purely football perspective, it has also been a period of change. After seven years in partnership with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah has played in front of four right-backs already this season; Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong, Dominik Szoboszlai and, briefly, Wataru Endo.
“As across the Liverpool line-up, new relationships are forming, and those intuitive understandings must develop. The hope is always this will happen instantly. Realistically, it needs more than 10 games.
“There is an additional tactical adjustment impacting Salah. One of the reasons he was so effective last season is because Slot designed the team around a ‘risk and reward’ strategy with his main goalscorer.
“He encouraged him to stay up the pitch rather than consistently track back, trusting Szoboszlai, Alexander-Arnold or Ibrahima Konate to cover the right side of Liverpool’s defence when the team was counter-attacked.
“The reshaping of the midfield, in addition to the changing personnel at full-back and Konate’s inconsistent form, has enabled opponents to target Liverpool’s right side more productively.
“Chelsea reaped the rewards for that with their late winner at Stamford Bridge two weeks ago. Blaming Salah for not helping his right-back enough is harsh given he is following the same instructions that helped Liverpool win so many games.”
Salah will be hoping to reignite his form this weekend as Liverpool come up against fierce rivals Manchester United. And the Egyptian will be confident of doing just that, having bagged a joint career-high 16 goals against the Red Devils in just 17 appearances.
Following Sunday afternoon’s clash at Anfield, Liverpool will then turn their attention back to the Champions League, with an upcoming showdown against German side Eintracht Frankfurt.
