Mohamed Salah’s struggle shows why no player is untouchable | OneFootball

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Having done so much of his talking off the pitch, Mohamed Salah was back in training with Liverpool on Sunday and Monday. The mood is said to have been fine – the players putting up a front with friendly chats – although everyone is aware of what’s hanging in the air. There are a few small jokes, but mostly it’s left unsaid.

Many might quip that Salah said enough on Saturday, in words that have been pored over more than any Liverpool interview since Luis Suárez in the summer of 2013.

There are a few other words that might warrant some focus now, however, even if they come from a source few at Anfield would necessarily care to pay much attention to: “The one thing I could never allow was loss of control, because control was my only saviour… I knew the minute a football player started trying to run the club, we would all be finished.”

That analysis comes from Sir Alex Ferguson’s second autobiography, reflecting on Roy Keane’s abrupt departure from Manchester United in 2005.

Now, I know immediately what you’re thinking: the modern media landscape is saturated with talk of United in the 1990s and 2000s.

There’s a reason these words are particularly relevant today, though, and it isn’t just because that team was as successful as Liverpool of the 1970s and 1980s.

Here’s why.

Ferguson is one of the most influential figures in English football history because he had an innate – as well as studied – understanding of what made players tick, and of how dressing-room psychology worked.

It was argued in this newsletter a few weeks ago that the “smart,” Ferguson-like decision for Liverpool would have been for their forward-thinking football hierarchy to let Salah go

Well, we can now probably see why.

Ferguson constantly sought to head off the possibility of a star getting too big or staying too long, because he could foresee the problems their accumulated power would cause.

Liverpool didn’t, and a football crisis has become a full-blown club crisis, with immense pressure now to make another decision on Salah.

For all that we talk about how the game has evolved, and Liverpool have become the great illustration of embracing modernity, some fundamentals in football will never change. One is that a successful team depends on a successful group psychology – something Ferguson clearly recognised. Part of that is managing stars… particularly stars who are nearing the end of their tenure. That is, if this is indeed the end at Liverpool, which is now open to question.

Salah, evidently struggling to accept a changed perception of his performance, has certainly pushed himself closer to some kind of farewell at Anfield.

And that stems from a different kind of disconnect.

Salah’s new summer contract was not just a renewal of the club’s outstanding performer. It was the biggest contract Liverpool had ever handed out.

There is considerable symbolism in that, made even more “on the nose” by the use of a literal throne for the announcement.

One argument in favour of the renewal was that Liverpool couldn’t possibly let a star of his stature leave on a free transfer. But a deal like this carries a cost of a different kind. It is a huge outlay that eats heavily into the wage budget.

As many in football will tell you, the exact figure of a salary is rarely about the money itself; it’s about what that number represents – the status.

This deal marked Salah as Liverpool’s absolute top dog, the golden king of the dressing room, all based on past performance.

Yet recent performances and decisions suggest that this assumed seniority may no longer hold, at least in terms of his standing within the team.

Salah has been one of many players playing poorly, so he has been one of many players dropped.

Simple as that… but now wrapped up in a world of other complications.

Many of those complications stem from his status as one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players. But that status was built on a tactical framework that Arne Slot no longer has at his disposal.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has gone. Jordan Henderson has gone. Most of the other forwards have gone – and allowances should be made for Salah’s response to these changes, especially considering he is also one of the figures grieving Diogo Jota’s passing.

So, while it was natural – even obvious – for Slot to try to build this new team around Salah, it perhaps shouldn’t be surprising that the Egyptian hasn’t yet reproduced the same form, particularly at 33.

Liverpool’s worst form in 80 years has coincided with Salah’s worst form in his entire time at the club.

In that context, it is only natural for the coach to try something different. So he dropped him. That contract does not guarantee a perpetual place in the team, no matter past achievements. And it is only three games so far.

It’s hardly being banished to the “bomb squad.”

Salah should understand these dynamics better than anyone. These realities are part of why he is so highly paid. He has produced. As soon as you stop producing, you are at risk. This is elite sport.

What remains so striking, however, is the nature of the response – especially at such a vulnerable time for the team, and in particular for the manager.

None of this absolves Slot, either. There are fair questions about how he has handled the situation.

It is known that, a little like Eric Cantona or Suárez – though without their more volatile controversies – Salah requires man-management tailored to his personality. Slot could perhaps have communicated more effectively. In that sense, it is somewhat understandable that Salah talks about all he has done for the club. It’s not necessarily about a place in the team, but about how that is communicated.

But it is still only three games.

That’s almost nothing.

Yet Salah has responded by calling into question everything – from his relationship with Slot and the hierarchy, to his own future, and even his motivation.

This is one of the most staggering aspects. It is hard to figure out exactly what Salah was trying to achieve. There are so many questions: What does he want? What did he think the outcome would be? Would he have reacted the same if Liverpool had kept Leeds out and won 3-2?

Right now, the only conclusion that seems logical is this: this is the product of a star struggling to cope with a changed status… which raises multiple other questions.

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