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Liverpool legend Steve Nicol reckons Arne Slot ought to drop Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian's disappointing spell of form.
Salah is among several Liverpool players finding it tough to discover their rhythm at the beginning of the new campaign. After the club's Premier League title-winning season, during which he netted 29 goals in 38 league outings, the 33-year-old has failed to match that standard this time round.
Slot's squad seems to be enduring a challenging spell, with costly new acquisitions like Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak also finding it difficult to make their mark. After 11 games, Liverpool finds itself eighth in the standings — eight points adrift of table-toppers Arsenal — following Sunday's rough 3-0 loss to Manchester City.
Salah has notched five goals and three assists across his 16 outings this season, yet the Egyptian international doesn't appear as razor-sharp or ruthless as previously.
When questioned whether Slot should contemplate benching Salah, Nicol provided a direct response.
He told ESPN FC: "Yes I would. The second part of the question is, for who?
"You have to try and figure a way out to get him back to somewhere near his best. And so far, playing him and playing him and playing him isn't working.
"I got excited when he scored a couple of goals in a couple of games [against Brentford and Aston Villa], but his overall performance hasn't really changed much other than those two goals.
"Now the only other thing you can do is sit him on the bench. Sit down, have a look, maybe a different perspective.
"Then play him the next game and let's see if there's any sort of reaction because unfortunately he's reached the stage now where the team can't carry him anymore. Simple as that."
When asked whether Slot might be utilising Salah as much as possible with the Africa Cup of Nations looming next month, Nicol responded bluntly.
"Unfortunately, there's an answer to that: What is the point?" Nicol declared. "The guy is not giving you anything!"
"You could look at it the other way and say, 'He's going to be away for two or three months so we may as well try and figure something out now. Why am I going to wait on a guy who's giving me nothing? I need to be proactive here. I can't just sit on my hands and let it happen and hope and pray that all of a sudden somebody waves a magic wand and he becomes the Egyptian King again.'
"I absolutely think he needs to do something and my own personal opinion, I would sit him."
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