- Salah has not scored in the Reds’ last five league matches
- Whelan believes Salah will benefit from a bench role
- Salah has not been prolific since the season started
WHAT HAPPENED? Whelan has described the Egypt international’s performances this season as poor by his standards and revealed his manager will soon drop him to the bench.
He further explained Salah will benefit if he is dropped to the bench, adding the former Chelsea and AS Roma star has not been the same “brilliant player” since taking part in the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
WHAT DID WHELAN SAY? “I expect Salah will be dropped soon, and I don’t mean rotated, either,” he said as quoted by Football Insider. “He’s been poor by his high standards this season and he knows that himself deep down.
“Jurgen Klopp has stuck with him up until now, but I think that could be about to change this week. Roberto Firmino is scoring goals and playing well, Luis Diaz is pretty much the first name on the team sheet and Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez will be pushing hard to start, as well as Fabio Carvalho.
“Salah will probably benefit from a spell on the bench, to reignite the fire and motivation of last season. Sometimes you need a horrible bit of medicine. He hasn’t been the same brilliant player since the African Cup of Nations.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The Pharaoh has appeared in every one of Liverpool’s seven matches in the Premier League in this campaign, an ever-present feature by starting in all seven. His last appearance was against Brighton & Hove Albion where he created an assist in the 3-3 draw.
Salah is yet to score for the Reds in the last five league matches. He was last on target in the 2-1 defeat against Manchester United on August 22 and he opened his account for the season against Fulham on August 6 in a 2-2 draw.
WHAT NEXT FOR SALAH? Salah, who last season managed 35 league games for Liverpool, scored 23 goals and provided 13 assists, will hope to start when the Reds take on Rangers in their Champions League fixture at Anfield on Tuesday.
