Mohamed Salah has drifted from being a decisive force to a peripheral figure in Liverpool's biggest matches, and Arne Slot's continued faith in the Egyptian winger is emerging as a significant tactical error.
Since February, Liverpool have faced top opposition including Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. In those 11 games, they have lost seven, with Salah contributing zero goals and often appearing as a ghost at the edge of play.
The lack of physicality in Slot's side is acute. Salah, Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister form a diminutive front line, easily brushed aside by stronger opponents. Against City, Nico O'Reilly swatted Salah out of his lane, while Conor Bradley was left exposed on the right flank because Salah offers no defensive cover.
This imbalance forces Ibrahima Konaté to drift wide and the midfield pivot to cover too much space, transforming individual weaknesses into structural problems. Slot's rebuild is also endangered as Wirtz struggles to adapt to the Premier League while the team accommodates a non-performing superstar.
The question remains: why does Slot persist with Salah when the evidence suggests it is harming the team? A clear, fixable mistake that becomes deeper with every passing week.
