Is Salah's Time At Liverpool Up?

Salah has long been Liverpool’s most reliable forward, but having failed to hit the heights we know he can so far this season, is it a question of his time now being up?

    Mo Salah had just won the Golden Boot and Playmaker awards in the Premier League, spearheading Liverpool to a 20th League Title. As Football resumed after the summer, many fans expected that with Liverpool’s new signings, Salah would continue to guide the Reds to another league title. So far, however, it seems Salah is struggling to do so.

    Mohamed Salah has long been relied on by Liverpool fans to win them trophies, to score and create the goals to lead them to titles, and for a long period of time, Salah has done exactly that, having scored 20+ Premier League goals in 5 Premier League seasons. This season, however, Salah has struggled to score or assist, despite creating the most big chances in the Premier League so far, according to FotMob, at 5. 

    Liverpool put in their best performance of the season, admittedly a relatively low bar, away at Frankfurt. Salah was left on the bench for that game, only coming on in the 70th minute, as Arne Slot even brought Alexander Isak off at halftime, only to be replaced by Fede Chiesa.

    Salah returned to the side in a 3-2 loss away to Brentford, where he scored, and he followed that up with a goal against Aston Villa, giving Liverpool their first league win in their last five. The question remains, however, is his time up? His goal against Brentford was a brilliant finish, and his performance against Aston Villa was also very good, even if his goal came from a rare Emi Martinez mistake. 

    One of the key problems seems to be Florian Wirtz and Mo Salah playing together. Arne Slot gives Salah the freedom not to track back, which, when Florian Wirtz is playing, means that he has to track back. That takes Wirtz out of the position he likes to be in, the space between the defence and midfield. When Salah didn't play against Frankfurt, Wirtz didn't have to track back, and he was making constant runs off the midfield and off the defence, which made his best performance in a Liverpool shirt thus far. 

    So, while Salah can still be and likely will be a key player for Liverpool this season, Arne Slot must find a way to have Salah and Wirtz on the pitch at the same time, both playing their best; otherwise, one of them will have to be dropped.