23 Oct 2025 12:09:20
Wether we like it or not in the near future salah won't be playing for us and as good he has been and all achieved he is not the future, I would love to see this team evolve now around wirtz, ekitike, isak, gakpo, nghmoua and chiesa with mo having to understand his role if he is picked .
Brentford is a whole different proposition but I want us too keep the same formation and if isak is injured play mo or chiesa up top with ekitike.
23 Oct 2025 13:12:53
How long will it be before we start talking about Salah's wages though?
23 Oct 2025 13:23:49
There is no rocket science in thinking Salah is not going to be our future in years to come, given his age. But thinking he is washed just because he has started poorly, is extremely hasty. He is a club legend for a reason. He could still get his form back and come all out all guns blazing like he has over the past 10 years. My issue is more with Slot than with Salah. If a player isn't performing, you sub him. You don't constantly wait for for 88 minutes before you do that, whether we are winning or losing and show all your ruthlessness against a young Quansah.
I don't mind what formation we chose, we have to press and go for it. We were better in the first half yesterday compared to some of the previous games, but we weren't that great. It is when we started to press like crazy once Chiesa came on, the entire press fell into place. Wirtz started pressing better, they kept making mistakes and there were gaps appearing everywhere as they were chasing the game. (Curtis and Szoboslai were very both excellent. There was nothing slow and ponderous)
Now this may not work all the time, but you cannot let teams give minutes to pick a pass! and those half arsed presses are worse than not pressing at all.
23 Oct 2025 14:09:38
I wouldn’t be writing Salah off just yet,
{Ed025's Note - nor me John but i do feel that his time as being the fulcrum of the side has waned somewhat now, he has been excellent for the reds for a number of seasons now but with the emergence of the likes of Ekitike, Isac and Wirtz his time as the talisman may well be over i suspect mate, still a very good player of course but maybe his future after this season will be somewhere further afield, but he will still go down as one of the greats in LFC,s history..
23 Oct 2025 14:11:29
Rigsby you don't want to go on other Liverpool forums then mate, or youtube its already started for weeks he's been called greedy useless and all he cares about is money. doesn't deserve the 400k etc (who does mind you. ) its already become toxic I don't think he's done tbh he just needs to be taken out the team for now get some fire back in his belly.
tbh I think even in a bad season or something like now he'll still score 15 goals in a season no problem.
23 Oct 2025 14:16:32
No I don't think salah is washed but he is 33 going on 34 and he has slowed down which is human nature . The thing is we have serious new talent that needs to take us forward and evolve our play on the pitch not constantly looking for mo.
We need to trust the new blood in the team and mo can still contribute this might even bring out the undroppable side of mo.
23 Oct 2025 14:17:34
Salah doesn’t deserve a starting spot at the moment, legend or not. All players need to prove in training, by showing the right attitude etc, that they deserve a starting spot.
23 Oct 2025 14:23:10
If a player isn't performing then shouldn't he not be played instead put on the bench and let a performing player onto the pitch? Playing a 'non performing' player is just stupid especially with the amount of talent we currently have.
23 Oct 2025 14:43:02
With Salah I can understand missing a chance or two, that comes with being an offensive player. However, what has been really noticeable this season, is that his first touch has completely disappeared. The number of times it has just bounced off him, and we lose the ball has been staggering. It has been a constant this season.
For me, Salah's regression started in January and has continued since. A penalty here and there can mask it only for so long. I feel like his performance last year, from beginning to Jan, might have been Salah's last desperate effort to stay at Liverpool and get that contract. As a result of pushing himself and his body that hard, it has little left to offer.
Salah is a legend, nothing will change that. But, no one can stay at the top forever, and Salah's diminishing returns are evidence of this. I can see a move pending, possibly even January. Hughes and Slot have already brought in key components in the offensive zone, to prepare for Salah's exit.
I only hope, when he leaves, that he gets the send off he so rightly deserves. He has been a constant for us, playing virtually every game for the last 8 years. Our top scorer and assister in multiple seasons. Without him, we would not have achieved the level of success we have under Klopp or Slot.
Even if it is in January, Salah deserves a celebration at Anfield, and a chance for everyone to thank him and say goodbye.
23 Oct 2025 14:45:31
Ed25 at least for the short term, I agree with you. At some point, Slot has to cater to the team cos he is literally paid to win games, not to cater to the best offensive weapon we have, historically.
Also, it could just be that Salah in the short term, is realising that the new kids on the block you mentioned with their youthful exuberance are just making him look and feel older than he looks, I don't know. And it's not like we got no one else talented enuff to step in cos we got ballers in the attacking third.
I am confident Salah will come back strong this season but in our situation, we need to stop the rot in the PL and all hands should be on deck for that moving forward.
{Ed025's Note - tide and time wait for no man Oli as they say, still a good player but in football terms may be knocking on a bit i would say, i cant see him being happy as a squad player mate so maybe a nice move at the end of the season with grateful thanks from LFC could be the order of the day..
23 Oct 2025 15:29:27
I’ll happily bet my house on Salah will start more games going forward than Chiesa this season. And Salah is going to be at the Afcon for 6 weeks.
This isn’t a dig at Chiesa but if anyone wants to bet against it I’ll happily do a little charity wager.
23 Oct 2025 15:45:07
@JK23 - I am afraid, I think you could be right there given what we have seen so far. Also our Boss didn't think intent of pressing was a problem in the previous games, according to him it didn't work because "the ball was always in the air in previous games" - he said in the press conference.
So, he has got his reasons for going back to his trusted way I guess. Let us wait and watch.
23 Oct 2025 17:06:16
Salah will still end up with 15 goals this season. ?.
23 Oct 2025 17:06:21
Salah looked more dangerous playing more centrally last night for 20 minutes than he has for the last few weeks, even with his selfishness at the end. If he carries on playing just a tad more centrally than he has been thus far this season I still reckon he ends the season as our top scorer with plenty of assists also.
If we keep playing his position sticking purely out wide then yeah, little to no point in him playing.
23 Oct 2025 17:31:25
Drop him again. We could benefit from an angry Salah.
As it stands right now we’re a better team without him in the starting 11. Make him fight for his place back, force the form and the Goals, it can only be good for Liverpool.
23 Oct 2025 18:17:00
Indeed, Ed25. It could just be that he feels a bit older than he feels right now cos footie years feel a lot different than calendar years. Time will defeat us all, as they say.
@LFC08, that's a good psychological way to look at it. Could work cos we all know what Salah is like when he gets angry.
23 Oct 2025 18:29:14
I suspect one of the reasons we conceded to a two year deal with Mo was because we could get a fee after one year. I’m with the Ed’s on this and think this’ll be his last season with us and he’ll end up in Saudi or US in Jan or end of season.
He’s been brilliant but even the greats have to move on at some point, I just hope it’s done in a dignified way when it happens and there isn’t too much drama over social media if he plays off the bench a bit more.
23 Oct 2025 20:05:58
Feels like it’s been on the cards for a while. His consistency and stamina has been absolutely incredible, I’m amazed he’s been able to keep it going.
The beginning of last season was a bit of a renaissance for him. I think he wanted to prove critics wrong and get a big new contract.
He played brilliantly for the first half of the season. Since proving his point and getting his contract he’s gone backwards.
It might be just form but it feels like last season was the blip.
23 Oct 2025 20:38:43
If MO goes in the January window he gets his two year LFC contract in full paid another circa £45 million, plus a quoted signing on fee of £150 million, that's circa £200 million in "HIS" pocket. Who would not move for those figures?
The rumoured Saudi/ Middle East transfer fee is in excess of £100 million, for a 33 year old is very good business, who sadly could sustain an injury similar to Giovannis, that's one full season for recovery, he could also at his age sustain a career ending injury.
I would say a January window move suits "BOTH" parties ideally as the Afcon also starts New Year! so ye have to play without him whether you like it or not, for me it's a no brainer for any footballer who is 34 when his contract ends and also goes for NOTHING when that contract ends, take the transfer money on the table would be my choice ASAP!
We have a poor recent history of players running down contracts and leaving for buttons? don't look a gift horse in the mouth is my advice.
23 Oct 2025 21:02:41
Everyone gets older and it is obvious he was not going to starting for LFC forever. The point of the contract extension is that we won't lose him on a free (especially galling as Saudi offered £200M for him only 2 seasons ago) . Two season extension = sell this summer.
23 Oct 2025 23:28:12
Why would Liverpool pay his wages up if he leaves in January? Are we running some sort of charity?
23 Oct 2025 23:56:53
Yeah, it'd be foolish to use your best offensive weapon, wouldn't it?
24 Oct 2025 01:17:25
@TIR, I think the OP’s first little paragraph may not be an accurate representation of the actual events that would occur in the dimension most of us live in.
24 Oct 2025 05:08:56
Mo Salah's stats last season (goals and assists) were brilliant, He's not losing his ability from last season in 4/ 5 months. Granted he's not started this season well at all, it's a blip which all players go through every now and then, it happens. agreement tho that if not on form / no garantee to start. We have a squad for a reason and young players to eventually replace our great starters thats' a natural cycle so he may have to get used to not starting every game now a days.
He'll come good again very soon, too good, too professional, too hungry even if he will naturally (through age) drops off a little bit, pace etc. But he'll come good again soon.