Mohamed Salah was left on the bench for Liverpool’s Champions League win against Eintracht Frankfurt and Arne Slot has addressed the winger’s attitude
Arne Slot insists Mohamed Salah retains the “fire” needed for Liverpool – and would only worry if the winger accepted being dropped without complaint.
Salah was relegated to the bench for Wednesday’s Champions League encounter against Eintracht Frankfurt and squandered a great scoring opportunity during his brief appearance as Liverpool secured a commanding 5-1 victory.
The Egyptian appeared visibly frustrated at the final whistle and was amongst the first Liverpool stars to head down the tunnel after acknowledging the travelling fans.
Salah notoriously displayed a similar displeased reaction when limited to a substitute role at West Ham United during the final stages of Jurgen Klopp’s tenure 18 months earlier.
Although Alexander Isak’s groin complaint means Salah is virtually guaranteed a return to the starting XI for Saturday evening’s Premier League encounter at Brentford, Slot has no concerns about the 33-year-old’s disappointment at missing out on selection, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Slot said: “I hope he is not ever going to take it well, because the moment you are going to take it well then you miss the fire.
“That goes for every player, by the way. Not only Mo. The moment you start to accept that you are not playing anymore and you are fine with that, then you miss the fire that is needed to play at this level.”
Slot continued: “My experience in general is that it’s quite hard for a player to understand why he’s not playing. They all see football through their eyes, and again that’s a good thing.
“If you go over to all 20 players now to name a line-up, I’d be surprised if there’s one player who doesn’t put himself in.
“That’s not to say that they don’t understand we have more than a few good players here and once in a while somebody isn’t playing.
“But if we have to play a Champions League final tomorrow and you ask them to make a line-up, I’d be surprised if one of them doesn’t put themselves in – except maybe youngsters Rio [Ngumoha] or Trey [Nyoni].”
Another goalless outing means Salah has now endured six Liverpool matches without finding the net and is nearing his longest drought of eight games from February and March 2019.
Slot, however, has outlined why he remains completely confident the winger will soon rediscover the lethal touch that has delivered an extraordinary 248 goals in 413 appearances for the Reds.
The Dutchman said: “The way he trains, and when we do finishing drills, you cannot lose that. The only thing is we have to keep bringing him in to those positions and he has to bring himself into those positions.
“There are a lot of things that can happen when you get older. But if I can select one player who has the ball 12, 13 yards from goal and he should score that to save my reputation, I would have Mo in that position. Now he needs to show that he can get into those positions.”
Isak remains a significant doubt for the fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium after being withdrawn at the interval against Frankfurt with a groin injury.
Jeremie Frimpong, who was taken off after just 19 minutes due to a hamstring injury, is anticipated to be sidelined for several weeks. He joins goalkeeper Alisson Becker and young centre-back Giovanni Leoni on the injury list.
Liverpool will conduct a last-minute assessment of Ryan Gravenberch, who missed the game in Germany because of a twisted ankle. Midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, left-back Milos Kerkez and right-back Conor Bradley are all pushing for a recall alongside Salah, with Slot expected to once again rotate his squad for the third of seven crucial matches in a 22-day period.
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