Liverpool stunned a few expectations on Sunday when manager Arne Slot left Mohamed Salah on the bench, and the result was a sharper, more purposeful attacking display.
For years Salah has been the heartbeat of Anfield’s frontline, a mercurial scorer who sits third on the club’s all-time goals list but as Liverpool’s identity shifts, his place in the starting XI is no longer automatic.
Verdict: Overreaction
The chorus of alarm after Liverpool’s 4-1 reverse to PSV Eindhoven and pundit Jamie Carragher’s blunt assessment that Salah’s “legs have gone” felt premature. One match, one tactical tweak, and suddenly, headlines suggested a seismic change. The reality is more nuanced: Slot is experimenting, rotating and trying to coax the best from a squad that has been inconsistent at both ends of the pitch.
A tactical shake-up that paid off
Against West Ham, Slot deployed Alexander Isak up front, Cody Gakpo on the left, Florian Wirtz through the middle and Dominik Szoboszlai on the right.
The gamble worked. Wirtz produced his most influential performance in a Liverpool shirt, linking fluently with Isak and carving openings that had been missing. Wirtz found Isak four times in the first half alone, surpassing their previous season high, and Isak finally converted his long-awaited Premier League goal after a slick Wirtz assist.
Numbers tell a different story
Salah’s raw output this season, four goals and two assists; sits below his usual stratospheric standards, but the underlying data shows he is still creating chances.
In the Premier League, Gakpo ranks fourth for chances created with 25, while Salah is sixth with 23. Liverpool are generating opportunities; the problem has been finishing them and shoring up a defence that has looked brittle at times.
Rotation, not reinvention
This moment feels less like the end of an era and more like a manager testing permutations.
Salah remains a world-class threat and a match-winner, but Slot’s evolving system demands flexibility. Rotation is the explanation that fits best: preserving Salah’s sharpness across a congested schedule while giving new signings like Wirtz and Isak the platform to gel.
Bottom Line
Mohamed Salah is no longer an unquestioned starter in the sense of automatic selection every week, but he is far from obsolete. Liverpool are experimenting with fresh attacking shapes and, for now, that tactical curiosity is producing results.
Expect Salah to remain central to Liverpool’s ambitions — sometimes from the bench, sometimes leading the line — as Slot hunts for the balance that turns potential into consistent performance.
