There was a time when Mohamed Salah’s name was written in permanent ink on Liverpool’s team sheet. For seven and a half years, the Egyptian winger was untouchable, unmovable, indispensable. His exclusion from any starting XI would have sparked outrage, disbelief, perhaps even a full-scale supporter revolt.
Yet when Arne Slot left Salah on the bench against West Ham recently, the silence was deafening. No protests. No furious debates. Just a collective acceptance that something fundamental has shifted at Anfield, and not in Salah’s favour.
For a player who equalled Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record of 49 goal contributions in a single Premier League season just six months ago, the fall has been swift and jarring. That final-day equaliser against Crystal Palace capped a campaign where Salah registered 29 goals and 18 assists in just 38 appearances, powering Liverpool to the title with performances that made his contract extension, announced theatrically on a throne at Anfield, feel inevitable.
Fast forward to now, and Salah has managed just five goals and three assists across 19 appearances this season. The numbers alone don’t capture the complete picture, but they signal a dramatic decline that’s impossible to ignore.
The Tactical Shift
Slot inherited a team built entirely around Salah’s strengths. Last season’s system deliberately relieved him of defensive responsibilities, keeping him positioned high and fresh to exploit transitions. It worked brilliantly when Salah was producing at historic levels. But opponents have studied the blueprint, identified the vulnerabilities, and learned to expose Salah’s ineffectiveness without the ball.
Slot’s admission after the Sunderland draw was telling; he selected Dominik Szoboszlai on the right specifically for defensive solidarity. That pragmatic choice underlined an uncomfortable truth: Salah’s tactical luxury is only justifiable when he’s consistently decisive in attack.
The structural improvements in Liverpool’s last three matches, the final 15 minutes against Leeds notwithstanding, haven’t been coincidental. They’ve coincided with Salah’s reduced involvement or absence entirely.
Where Has the Magic Gone?
Salah’s touch count remains virtually unchanged, 50 per 90 minutes this season compared to 49 last year. The issue isn’t volume; it’s geography. His penalty area touches have plummeted from 9.6 per 90 to just 7.3, while he’s receiving the ball far more frequently in wide positions distant from goal.
That spatial shift explains why his shot metrics have declined. He’s averaging 2.7 shots and one on target per 90 minutes, down from 3.4 and 1.5 respectively last season. More damning is his expected goals per shot, currently 0.1, the lowest of his six Premier League campaigns at Liverpool.
Even when chances arrive, his finishing has become alarmingly rash. Against Chelsea and Manchester United, opportunities went begging that the Salah of previous seasons would have buried instinctively. His shot conversion has cratered from 20.2% to 11.1%- a drop so severe it suggests either physical decline or psychological uncertainty.
The Partnership Problem
Context matters, and Salah’s circumstances have changed dramatically. The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who provided 10.5 passes per 90 to Salah last season, has severed Liverpool’s most productive creative partnership. Nobody has replicated Trent’s range or chemistry, with Szoboszlai’s seven passes per 90 being the closest approximation.
The attacking overhaul has disrupted relationships further. Salah is adapting to Florian Wirtz’s different profile at number 10 while trying to build connections with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, strikers passing to him far less frequently than Darwin Núñez, Luis Díaz, and Diogo Jota did previously.
Those departures weren’t just tactical- they were emotional. Jota’s tragic death left Salah admitting he felt “scared” returning to training. That grief, combined with wholesale squad turnover, has created an environment where Salah looks isolated rather than integrated.
The Duel Statistics Don’t Lie
Perhaps most concerning are Salah’s individual battle statistics. Last season, he won 40.7% of duels and completed 42.3% of dribbles. In this campaign, those figures have collapsed to 28% and 23.4% respectively. The eye test confirms what the data screams: Salah is losing physical contests and failing to beat defenders with the frequency that once defined his game.
Age might be the cruel reality here. At 33, the explosive acceleration that terrorised Premier League full-backs for years has diminished. Liverpool is no longer positioning him to maximise his remaining strengths, and the combination has produced a player who looks ordinary rather than exceptional.
The Broader Context
Salah isn’t alone in underperforming- Cody Gakpo has been equally inconsistent, while Alexis Mac Allister and Ibrahima Konaté have produced shaky displays yet retained their places. But Salah’s decline feels more significant because of who he is, what he’s meant to Liverpool, and the contract saga that dominated last season.
His pointed comments after the Leeds draw- “I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it”- revealed frustration but also a disconnect from current reality. In elite football, past achievements buy you time, not permanence.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Whether it’s age catching up, tactical evolution leaving him behind, or grief affecting performance, Salah is no longer the force that defined Liverpool’s recent history. That reality, however painful, explains Slot’s willingness to explore alternatives.
The Egyptian king hasn’t abdicated his throne- it’s simply been removed from under him, one underwhelming performance at a time. For Liverpool and Salah, the question now isn’t whether things have changed, but whether they can be salvaged before the decline becomes irreversible.
