Jamie Carragher has warned Arne Slot that Mohamed Salah should no longer be an automatic starter for Liverpool after their 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Anfield.
The former Reds defender said the Egyptian forward, once untouchable in Liverpool’s attack, must now be managed carefully as his influence fades.
‘It’s a real conundrum for the manager and what he’ll do. It’s interesting that he brought him off,’ Carragher told Sky Sports.
‘Jurgen Klopp used to bring him off a lot, that shows you in years gone by Mo Salah could have a poor game and be brought off even if he had a bit of extra energy and sharpness.
‘We’re at a stage now with Mo Salah where he shouldn’t be playing every game, it shouldn’t be a case of ‘he’s the first name on the team sheet’.
‘It should be a case of ‘yes, he’s in your best team, he plays home games’, but maybe you have to think about Liverpool have two away games, one in Europe, one at Brentford – I don’t think he plays in both of them.
Jamie Carragher has warned Arne Slot that Mohamed Salah should no longer be an automatic starter for Liverpool
The former Reds defender said the Egyptian forward, once untouchable in Liverpool’s attack, must now be managed carefully as his influence fades
‘We’re at that stage now where Mo Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter next week.’
Carragher’s comments came as Liverpool slipped to a fourth straight defeat in all competitions, their third in the Premier League, surrendering a five-point lead at the top to fall to third, four points behind Arsenal.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring inside 62 seconds after a mix-up between Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister, before Cody Gakpo levelled early in the second half.
But Harry Maguire’s late header sealed United’s first Anfield win since 2016.
Gary Neville, speaking later on The Gary Neville Podcast, echoed Carragher’s concerns over Salah and revealed he sees early signs of decline, not physical, but technical.
‘There are questions being asked about him, whether it’s his age, whether it’s one season too many,’ Neville said.
‘But the strange thing in watching Salah is usually a player getting towards the end of his career, what you notice is the physical decline.
‘I’m not seeing a physical decline – some of his sprints look quite sharp, he looks busy in the box. But crazy things like the ball comes to the back post… his technique on his kicking and his crossing, that’s the thing that looks well off.
Gary Neville, speaking later on The Gary Neville Podcast, echoed Carragher’s concerns over Salah and revealed he sees early signs of decline
‘There were a couple of moments today at the back post where you’re thinking, ‘that’s not Mo Salah’. He had that moment where he dragged it really ugly towards the left of the post. That’s just his technique.
‘Mo Salah could probably play until he’s 52 and have good technique, so that’s the bit that’s surprising me, the technical bit.’
Neville also delivered a scathing verdict on Liverpool’s defensive display, describing the back line as ‘really poor’ and ‘all over the place’.
‘I think the individual performances of Liverpool’s defenders was really poor, and decision making,’ he said.
‘The left back [Milos Kerkez] has not settled in… he plays like a 10-year-old left back, he’s all over the place.
‘At right back Conor Bradley was OK today, I don’t think he did anything particularly wrong, but Van Dijk… I’ve not seen Van Dijk as shaky as that. Now sometimes, when a player comes back from an international break, it’s been him that’s been holding it together, but he had one of his worst games today.’
Liverpool, beaten in three straight Premier League matches for the first time since 2017, now face a crucial Champions League tie in midweek before returning to domestic action at Brentford, where Slot’s side will look to halt a run that has seen them slip four points off top spot.
