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Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has told Arne Slot he shouldn’t be afraid to drop Mohamed Salah if he continues to produce under-par performances.
Salah and the rest of his teammates will be reporting back to the AXA Training Centre over the next couple of days as they prepare for Sunday’s game against Manchester United, when they will be aiming to rediscover some form.
Three consecutive defeats in all competitions before the international break saw the Reds fall behind Arsenal in the early stages of the Premier League title race, with Slot’s new-look side still struggling to find its feet after a summer overhaul.
It’s not just the club’s new signings though that have been out of form though, with very few players hitting their stride so far - including Salah.
Although the Egyptian has three goals and three assists from 10 appearances so far, he hasn’t been at his best, and even found himself dropped to the bench for Liverpool’s Champions League tie against Galatasaray.
Slot maintained that decision was made due to the Reds’ workload, although Aldridge has insisted the Liverpool boss should not be afraid to repeat it if Salah’s performances don’t improve.
“Mohamed Salah is someone who needs to come to the table and it was good to see him finding his shooting boots for Egypt during the international break,” Aldridge wrote in his column for the Liverpool Echo.
“The fear of being dropped could be a powerful tool for Arne Slot in the coming days if Salah is in something of a slump beyond this weekend. Reputations shouldn't really matter, if you are not at the races then the manager sometimes has a big decision to make and I don't think Liverpool's would shirk it if it came down to it, especially with the players he has elsewhere in that forward line.”
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Calling on his own experiences as a player, Aldridge added: “When I was at Oxford, I remember my manager Maurice Evans telling me one day that I'd been out of sorts and needed to come out of the team. Essentially, he was telling me I needed to sort myself out.
“I was shocked at the time and saw it as a massive kick up the backside. It was one of the oldest tricks in a coach's book, but it woke me up.
“The next game, we played Gillingham, I started and scored four goals in a 6-0 win and when I look back now, it was superb man-management from Evans, who got exactly the sort of response he was after.
“Could Slot repeat the trick with Salah this week? We know he is a great man-manager, so let's see.”
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