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Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has issued a stark warning to manager Arne Slot, suggesting he must consider dropping Mohamed Salah if the Egyptian's current form doesn't improve.
While Salah finished as the Premier League's top scorer last season, he has managed just four goals in 11 appearances this campaign - and it has raised concerns. The forward has started all 11 of those fixtures, regularly completing the full 90 minutes.
In the Champions League, he's featured from the start in only two of the Reds' four matches, finding the net against Atletico Madrid but failing to score against Real Madrid.
Salah is set to be unavailable for fixtures in December and January, as his Egypt side is among the frontrunners for the Africa Cup of Nations. Slot will be forced to cope without the attacker during that spell, though Carragher believes the manager may need to rotate his squad even earlier.
"If you're not scoring the goals at one end and you're leaving your team you're exposed at the other, you're basically getting nothing from this tactical ploy of allowing Mo Salah just to stay up top," Carragher said on The Overlap. "So he's either got to come back [defensively] or you've got to play someone else.
"That's why I said a few weeks ago the days of Mo Salah starting every week especially away from home, have to stop."
Wayne Rooney also voiced his concerns, suggesting that opponents have been exploiting Liverpool's right flank, expecting Salah's lack of defensive contribution to leave the right-back - be it Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong or someone else - isolated.
These remarks from Carragher follow similar sentiments expressed by former Liverpool player Steve Nicol.
"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," Nicol shared with ESPN FC.
"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."
Liverpool will be back in action after the international break, hosting Nottingham Forest at Anfield on Nov. 22. A Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven follows just four days later, and they will conclude the month with an away match against West Ham.
Salah is presently on duty with his national team for the Al-Ain International Cup. This friendly tournament sees Egypt competing against fellow World Cup qualifiers Cape Verde, Iran and Uzbekistan.
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