‘Not been performing’ – Lewis Steele suggests Liverpool player’s decline has hurt the entire team | OneFootball

Lewis Steele has suggested that the decline in performances of one Liverpool player this season has had an adverse effect on the entire team.

A number of Reds players have come in for questioning in recent weeks, particularly amid the worrying sequence of three straight defeats prior to the current international break, and even the usually reliable Mo Salah has been in the firing line.

Both Ian Wright and Wayne Rooney have been critical of the Egyptian’s work ethic on the pitch of late, and the goals haven’t flowed for the 33-year-old like they usually would, with only three in his first 10 games this season (compared to six at the same stage last term).

Steele concerned by Salah’s drop in output

In a comprehensive stock-take video on his eponymous YouTube channel with the campaign paused for international duty, Steele lamented the decline in not just the goalscoring output of Liverpool’s number 11 but also his underlying statistics.

The journalist stated: “Mo Salah’s not been performing this season, and because of that Liverpool haven’t been performing either. His shots, touches in the opposition box, chances created and dribbles are all down. Everything for Salah is down.

“When Salah’s not performing, who is there to step up and win games for Liverpool?”

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It’s not just the goals which have dried up for Salah this season

Criticisms of the 33-year-old over his work ethic on the pitch are subjective, but it’s much harder to dispute the numbers which show that – as Steele says – he’s simply not been performing to the same standards as last season.

As the table below illustrates (with figures from FBref), the Egyptian’s output in terms of numerous underlying metrics has declined sharply from 2024/25 to the early weeks of the current campaign.

Of course, it shouldn’t be solely left up to Salah to shoulder the goalscoring burden for Liverpool – only he and Hugo Ekitike have scored more than twice for the Reds so far this season – but he hasn’t been atoning for quiet performances with decisive moments as regularly as before.

Our number 11 has more than enough credit in the bank for us to trust that the goals will soon flow and he’ll answer his critics in the best way possible, but with his team enduring an undoubted dip, this is the time for him (and others at the club) to step up and produce match-winning displays.

When he suffers, so does the collective. He can’t do it all on his own, obviously, but he’s certainly capable of so much more than what he’s produced of late.