Mohamed Salah’s smile said it all after latest Liverpool let-down - 'This isn’t his team anymore'

The Liverpool forward's reaction said it all after he trudged off the pitch at the City Ground. Even more alarmingly, the team was better after his substitution

Mohamed Salah endured another frustrating performance against Nottingham Forest

He sat there smiling. Inside, this must surely be tearing him apart.

Mohamed Salah’s beaming grin has so often provided the backdrop to Liverpool’s greatest triumphs over the last decade. Premier League titles, Champions League glory, spectacular comebacks — Salah’s sparkling nashers have accompanied it all.

Yet as Liverpool grabbed another remarkable win in dramatic circumstances, he was nowhere to be seen. Salah wasn’t on the pitch when Alexis Mac Allister knocked in the injury-time winner against Nottingham Forest. Nearly 20 minutes prior, with Liverpool chasing a goal, Arne Slot had opted to withdraw the club’s third-highest all-time scorer.

Since his 2017 arrival at Anfield, Salah, more than anyone, has been relied on for moments of magic. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Sunday’s events at the City Ground were proof of that. As the Egyptian trudged off the pitch in Nottinghamshire, there was no sense of discontent. Less than four months after his indignant outburst in the Elland Road mixed zone, even Salah seems to have accepted the shifting status quo.

As he took his place on the bench alongside Cody Gakpo, who was also withdrawn following an underwhelming showing, the 33-year-old smirked. How best to describe that grin? Rueful? Telling? Sarcastic? Either way, this was certainly not gleeful. Nor was it typical of the Salah of old, who would have been astonished to see the no.11 flash up on the electronic screen.

But after a run of nine Premier League games without a goal — Salah’s longest streak in the competition — even his greatest acolytes cannot seriously claim his role in the side should be guaranteed.

Salah's smile has often lit up Anfield

“This team isn’t the Mohamed Salah team anymore,” Jamie Carragher succinctly summed up before the game.

No one watching Sunday’s disheartening display on the banks of the Trent could argue with that sentiment. Even more damning than Salah’s disappointing stats are his in-game mannerisms.

Salah’s touch repeatedly lets him down. He routinely fails to find teammates with passes. Most alarming is the forward’s physical decline. For a player who has gone to such great lengths to maintain his athleticism, too often he is now barged off the ball by opposition players; his capacity to wriggle through gaps with the ball is almost non-existent.

This is not an overreaction to one performance, a theme that has followed too many Liverpool games this campaign. Salah’s displays have frustrated for months. He may have showcased a flash of his old swagger last week against Brighton & Hove Albion — interestingly, against one of the division’s less-physical sides — but that has become the exception rather than the norm for the ex-Roma and Fiorentina man.

Salah was replaced late on as Liverpool searched for a winning goal

That he was outshone by substitute Rio Ngumoha was emblematic of Liverpool’s direction of travel. Assuming, as many now do, that this is to be Salah’s swansong season at Anfield, Ngumoha will surely play a significant role in the Reds’ attacking rebuild.

The teenager completed more dribbles and created more scoring opportunities than either Salah or Gakpo during his on-field cameo.

“Ngumoha did more in 15 minutes than Salah and Gakpo did before that. He changed the game and needs to be starting games,” opined Carragher.

Unsurprisingly, only one of those wingers felt comfortable stopping in the post-match mixed zone at the City Ground. While Ngumoha showed maturity beyond his years with that decision, Salah’s choice to dismiss reporters’ requests was telling in itself. He won’t repeat that mistake again.

There was a playful grin and a light-hearted joke from the Liverpool icon as he shook his head and politely declined those requests. Once the embodiment of Liverpool triumph, his smiles have a different meaning now.