Eight reasons why Mo Salah’s levels have dropped after West Ham benching ignites exit speculation | OneFootball

Mo Salah’s benching for Liverpool at West Ham on Sunday has caused a major debate over his long-term future at Anfield and whether his drop in standards are the beginning of the end for the Egyptian King as both a first-team regular and a force to be reckoned with.

Salah has proved one of the greatest signings in Liverpool’s modern history, helping to win seven major honours during his time at Anfield and blitzing his way to an incredible 250 goals in 419 appearances for the club.

Off the back of arguably his best season yet on Merseyside last season, which resulted in a jaw-dropping 55 goal contributions (34 scored, 23 assists) in 53 appearances, Liverpool activated a new deal for the iconic star, keeping him at Anfield until 2027 and rewarding him with the most lucrative contract in the club’s history, worth an estimated £400,000 a week.

Yet this season, Salah standards have significantly dropped off for Liverpool and, while he has struck fivegoals and three assists so far from 18 games, some relatively anonymous appearances, together with question marks over his work-rate, have seen questions raised over his future.

However, Arne Slot is adamant Salah is far from done and merely claimed his decision to bench him came as a tactical decision ahead of a busy run of games.

Yet, the facts don’t lie and with Liverpool putting in their best performance in a good few weeks and claiming a deserved and morale-boosting win, many will start to wonder if the Reds are actually better off without the talismanic star in their starting line-up…

Of course, talk of his demise is somewhat premature and Salah has endured dips in form before; always bouncing back and dishing up a better and more effective version of himself.

Would anyone truly put it past him to smash in a hat-trick either against Sunderland on Wednesday or Leeds on Saturday?

That said, at 33 years of age, it is accepted he won’t be able to maintain his sky-high levels forever, and that succession planning at Anfield simply has to take place….

However, perhaps there are some mitigating factors as to why his form may have taken a tumble this season…

Eight reasons why Mo Salah has been off the boil for Liverpool

Not playing for a new contract

This time last season, Salah’s future – and that ticking clock on his contract – was headline news. Salah was loving it too and fed the media with some crafty hints that not just fuelled the myth that he was leaving, but also ramped up the speculation over what a Salah-less Liverpool would look like.

Of course, it all worked out beautifully in the player’s favour as he put pen to paper on a new deal worth a staggering £400,000 a week and secured his future at Anfield.

But the very notion of that attention seemed to fuel the player and helped him pull off his greatest season yet in Liverpool colours.

Now, one year on, the attention has been moved away from Salah, and the player is currently no longer playing for his immediate future as such.

We’re not saying the spark has been lost nor the desire is no longer there (the player does, absolutely still love scoring goals and chasing down every Liverpool record you can imagine) but there’s no longer than element of having to play for his future which may have seen his levels drop slightly.

Lack of a regular right-back behind him and missing Trent

Salah enjoyed a brilliant understanding with Trent Alexander-Arnold down Liverpool’s right flank and the pair combined beautifully together for the best part of eight glorious seasons.

With Alexander-Arnold departing Anfield this summer, the Reds have been shorn not just of one of their most creative outlets, but of a player Salah enjoyed a somewhat telepathic relationship with.

This season has been anything but consistent down Liverpool’s right. Jeremie Frimpong was signed as the Salah replacement, but has failed to settle and question marks are already being raised on his suitability for Slot’s system.

Conor Bradley is another option, but he’s been hooked at half-time during his last two Premier League starts, largely owing to the fact that he was on a yellow card both times and Slot did not want to risk his dismissal.

And then there is Dominik Szoboszlai, who has largely done well in his unorthodox position, but is clearly better suited to his more accustomed advanced midfield role and feels very much like a square peg in a round hole when asked to play there.

Age and less willingness to track back

Salah is 33 now, and while still at the peak of his powers physically, questions have been raised over his unwillingness to track back and his failure to stick with opposing full-backs.

It was a tactic that Chelsea exposed to great effect on Saturday, with Marc Cucurella’s bursts into the box, coupled with the Egyptian’s unwillingness to track his runs, often posing situations of danger and ultimately leading to the Blues’ last-gasp winner.

Granted, the tracking back has never been a huge part of his game, but is there even more of an unwillingness now to do the donkey work and instead preserve his energies for what he’s really good at: making and scoring goals.

Slot’s system has allowed Salah to get away with that even more than it ever did under Jurgen Klopp, but when the going gets tough and results start to turn, it’s easy to see how and why this looks like a real problem for the Reds and a new riddle for Slot to solve.

The sale of Luis Diaz and how the Colombian did the legwork for him

As Daniel Sturridge perfectly explained, Liverpool are missing the energy and work rate of Salah’s fellow attacker Luis Diaz this season.

The Colombian was a tireless runner and often sacrificed his own needs to help the team, often doing the defending from the front that Salah so often lacked.

“Luis Diaz is a massive miss for me,” Sturridge told Sky Sports. “When you look at Liverpool last year and how they used to press, I think arguably he was the one who would set the press in the front three.”

Having shipped the Colombian and Darwin Nunez out, Liverpool moved to bring in Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak and while both have very obvious qualities, they may not do as much for the team as Diaz did.

“Ekitike and Isak and Wirtz work hard – we can’t question their quality.

“But Diaz would sacrifice himself defensively. That’s what they’ve got to figure out now, who in that attack is going to give themselves up a little bit.”

He added: “In a front three, there always has to be one guy who goes, ‘I’m not stats hungry’.

“Right now, I’m not sure the manager knows what he’s going to do.”

Mental fatigue and the Diogo Jota tragedy

We can’t overlook the tragic loss of Salah’s close friend and teammate Diogo Jota had on the player, nor any of those who knew and loved the Portuguese player at Anfield.

His passing undoubtedly leaves scars and emotional difficulties for all associated with the club.

Liverpool would never use it as an excuse – though Virgil van Dijk has hinted at it – but as anyone who has lost someone will know, mental fatigue cannot be underestimated.

Second-season syndrome under Arne Slot

The term second-season syndrome used to be a real thing in football and was one of the buzz phrases of the last decade before it ultimately fizzled out.

But is there an element that Liverpool are just not thriving in the same way under Slot in season two as they were in that first year under the Dutchman?

After eight years of the much-loved Klopp, Slot was like a breath of fresh air and his arrival gave many players a new lease of life. Perhaps that energy of wanting to impress a new manager has faded somewhat now.

Or maybe it’s a case that Slot’s messages are not cutting through the way they used to.

Granted, there are still time for Liverpool to turn their season around, but as things stand right now, both Salah and Liverpool look a long way off the well-oiled machine that romped to Premier League glory last season.

Too many changes to the Liverpool side and a period of transition

Liverpool may have spent a whopping £440m (€505m, $600m) this summer on adding some serious quality to their ranks, but is there a danger that Slot has made too many changes at once?

In total, 19 players either signed or departed Liverpool this summer and those wholesale changes would always result in something of a bedding-in process as the Liverpool manager works out his best side.

Indeed, aside from Ekitike, Liverpool have not seen any of their new arrivals at their very best.

And with more emphasis perhaps placed on Salah to continue leading from the front, it is just not happening right now for the Egyptian King…

But when they get going, so too will Salah and they all click, Liverpool will be a fearsome opponent for any side Europe over.

Simple: it’s just form

In simple terms, Salah is, like his teammates, just going through a rough patch.

But as the old saying goes, form is temporary, class is permanent and it surely will not be long before Salah is back firing on all cylinders.

He’s had periods of struggle before. But time and again, he’s bounced back to his best and answered critics in the very best possible way.

That will, no doubt, happen again and from a Liverpool point of view, that can’t come soon enough!

And while the succession planning for life after Salah will undoubtedly be underway, it would be wrong to think that could come in the January window, even if we are now entering what one journalist has called the ‘Salah endgame’.

Three options considered to replace Mo Salah; Real Madrid midfielder linked

Meanwhile, amid claims Slot is open to the sale of Salah before his deal expires in 2027, a transfer journalist has named the three quality stars who comprise Liverpool’s shortlist of options to replace the talismanic Egyptian star.

The man often touted as a replacement for Salah in the Liverpool ranks, Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, continues to be heavily linked with a January move to Merseyside.

And with a tempting release clause in his contract, there will be no shortage of clubs keen on a potential deal.

But which club would suit him best? Our writers have all had their say on Semenyo’s best match….

Elsewhere on the transfer front, stunning reports are talking up Liverpool bidding €60m for a Real Madrid midfielder, and the expectation is if such an offer is received, it would be accepted.

Finally, Liverpool continue to make contingency plans for life after Slot after a divisive figure revealed their plans to appoint one of Europe’s leading coaches as his successor and their immediate plans for an interim boss, while our sources can reveal what the Dutchman must do next to ensure he survives.