'Sulking' Mo Salah no longer the 'main man' as Sky Sports pundit names Liverpool problem

Arne Slot is taking shots from all angles just now thanks to a run of form that you have to go as far back as the early 20th century to match.

Six defeats in seven games in a list of fixtures that didn’t predict such hardship although the team selected to face Crystal Palace can’t really be put together with what has been seen recently. A first start in three years saw Calvin Ramsay emerge as one of only a few players with any credit and the Scotland international has done his chances of forcing his way into the starting XI on a regular basis no harm at all. One player who has struggled this season but who had the night off against the Eagles is Mo Salah, who will be looking to continue his return to goal scoring ways against Aston Villa.

Mohamed Salah no longer Liverpool’s main man?

After such an impressive campaign last season, the drop off in form has been remarkable with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink telling Sky Sports why he thinks the 33-year old has been struggling: "Slot is looking for his best XI," Hasselbaink said. "Then, on top of that, Van Dijk is not having his best time. Konate is showing some fight, Kerkez has not settled in yet and Bradley is Mr Liverpool but is also still learning the game, and he is playing in a side that is not performing well so you can't expect a young boy to carry the side.

"In the middle, you now have a real No.10, so you have to play differently. There are so many things that are not right. You have Salah, who is sulking a little bit; a, because he's not playing well and b, he's also not really the main man anymore. Players like Ekitike have come in. Normally, when Salah is open and free, he gets the ball from everyone. Ekitike is going for himself and looking for his own opportunities.

"It is normal for new players because they want to show they are worth the price tag, and they want to show they can play for Liverpool, but the whole concept is not right; it doesn't feel right at the moment. It is for Slot to come and make it right, and at the moment, he is struggling with that."

What needs to change for Salah to find form

There are similarities with the problems that Florian Wirtz is having too. Used to being the main man at Bayer Leverkusen, he now needs to find a way of impacting games without every attack going through him. He has to realise that he can be the target or end point for an attacking phase of play rather than the individual who starts everything. For Salah, he has a decision to make.

With Hugo Ekitike and Wirtz, he is no longer the focal point, but he also doesn’t do enough out of possession to justify being a luxury player. On paper, Slot should be able to pick Wirtz, Salah and Ekitike and find a way to make it work because all three are talented players. Salah has also had to put up with a different right-back every week rather than the predictability of Trent Alexander-Arnold offering a crossing option from deep or in the channel. Salah might not be the main man anymore, but as shown with his goal against Brentford, it is too soon to write a player who cleaned up during awards season only a matter of months ago.