Liverpool legend Steve Nicholl has slammed Reds star Mohamed Salah for “walking around dumbstruck” and ignoring manager Arne Slott’s instructions this season.
Salah has scored three goals and provided three assists in all competitions, but he hasn’t been as sharp as he was last season when he led Liverpool to the Premier League title.
Alan Shearer believes Salah is currently ‘struggling’ due to the £420m worth of new signings this summer.
Shearer told The Rest Is Football: “Everything, or most of it, for Liverpool has revolved around Salah for years now, and that’s no surprise, because when you’re scoring 25, 30, 35 goals, you can get away with certain things.
Read: Will Arne Slott drop Mohamed Salah after Chelsea star reveals Maresca’s damning plans?
“But there’s so much going on at Liverpool right now in terms of trying to find a balance between bringing in Isak, bringing in[Florian]Wirtz, bringing in Ekitike or which full-backs to bring in.
“So to protect them a little bit more when Mo doesn’t track back and he’s struggling a little bit right now, there’s no question about it.”
Chelsea star Marc Cucurella revealed after the Blues’ 2-1 win over Liverpool that manager Enzo Maresca had told his team to target the Reds’ right flank due to Salah’s lack of defensive work.
And former Liverpool full-back Steve Nicholl believes Slott must have instructed Salah to track the runs of the opposition full-backs, which he believes means the Egyptian is ignoring orders and “walking around dazed”.
“Ninety-nine percent of players understand that when things aren’t going well, as long as they try hard, they’ll be okay,” Nichol told ESPN. “But he seems to be walking around in a daze. After the breakup with Cucurella, Salah is not thinking about him, why is that?”
“There’s no way he doesn’t understand that, there’s no way he doesn’t understand it and there’s no way Arne Slott wouldn’t tell him to look at Cucurella, who liked to come forward.
“I’m going to be kind to Mo Salah and you could say his confidence is low, but right now his head is confused and he doesn’t see a clear picture.”
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Gary Lineker has claimed that Trent Alexander-Arnold, who left Liverpool to join Real Madrid in the summer, is “not available” for Salah.
“I think in terms of creativity, like everything else, they’re really missing Trent. Before that, there were times when Trent would come forward, but maybe they were exposed to the defense at times,” Lineker said.
“But what he gives in the other direction is irreplaceable. I can’t think of another player in world football who plays that position (right-back) more attackingly.”
“I think we’re missing him too in Mo (Salah), the connection they had. Yes, sometimes they were exposed at the back, but someone was going to cover that position. Last season it was mainly (Dominik) Szoboszlai, and before that it was Jordan Henderson.”
“I have to say that he deserved his gold medal in the future. And I always said, ‘Stop worrying about him (Alexander-Arnold) making the odd little mistake defensively, because what he gives you on the other side is incredible.’
