A Plan All Along, or a Plan Gone Wrong?

In Liverpool’s Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace, Salah had just 23 touches — half his average from last season. With new signings Wirtz and Ekitike more comfortable on the left, the bulk of play gravitated there. Fans and pundits speculated this was part of a tactical shift: create left-side overloads, free Salah on the right, and prepare for a future with him central to the project. But what if Salah saw something else — preparation for a future of which he was not a part?

As the season kicked off, the pattern continued, with Salah barely receiving the ball in dangerous positions, until the moment that he found himself on the bench for three consecutive games — remarkable for a player widely considered Liverpool’s third-greatest of all time.

In a season of tragedy, upheaval, and poor results, who would have thought everything would come down to three games? Three games that may reshape the future of one of Liverpool’s greatest ever players.

Mo Salah’s Outburst

Reflecting on Salah’s comments to the press, I can’t help but see things from his perspective. Was he encouraged to sign a new contract simply to protect his transfer value? Was he told he was central to Liverpool’s future – fit, valuable, essential – only for the club to spend nearly half a billion on new signings while quietly preparing to phase him out? Was our Egyptian King misled?

Those saying that no player is above the club are of course correct, and Salah’s comments to the press are both woefully timed and somewhat self-centred in their delivery, but he is human and he loves this club. And for everything he’s done for it, he deserves not only respect, but empathy. 

Those who argue that he deserves to have been dropped due to poor performances are of course entitled to their opinion, but are probably overlooking the fact that Salah has actually not been bad this season; he’s just been ignored… or, at best, under-utilised. You can’t isolate a player on the right wing, run the entire game down the left, concede every time you lose possession, and then blame that player for the team’s form. Yet that is essentially what Slot has done by dropping Salah (and only Salah) for three consecutive games.

Arne Slot’s Point of View

From Slot’s perspective, I can understand the need to tighten things up. Liverpool had lost 9 in 12. Dropping the player with the fewest defensive actions seems like a logical starting point for stabilising the team. If I’d been in Slot’s position, I’d likely have dropped Salah for West Ham, too, and brought in Gomez just as he did. But I’d also have dropped Gakpo, added Endo, and even benched both Isak and the in-form Ekitike, using a midfielder up top. The message, then, would have been clear: “It’s the system, not you — let’s fix the leaks first.”

West Ham became a match defined by staying calm in possession and tight without it. In that respect, Slot succeeded: Liverpool won 2–0 and looked secure apart from one Bowen chance.

Whichever starting XI he’d played and won with there, was always going to start the following game against Sunderland. From Slot’s perspective, that made sense, but from Salah’s, the feeling of “why only me?” was inevitable. The experiment continued, but with shakier results: Liverpool dominated the ball yet looked vulnerable out of possession. A 1–1 draw reflected that balance.

At this stage, Slot was likely thinking, “At least we didn’t lose — four points from two games isn’t horrific.” That’s how precarious things had become. Keeping a similar lineup for Leeds was rational from a man trying not to lose his job — but from a man- management perspective, it was disastrous. Dropping Salah alone, for a third match in a row, sends a brutally harsh message to the man who dragged Liverpool through last season. Respect has to factor in somewhere. And on this front, Slot has misjudged it.

Has Salah Been Disrespected?

Salah’s comments make it clear he feels not only disrespected but misled. He believes he should have been playing, and worse, that the club had been planning all along to replace him, phase him out, and eventually cash in. If that is truly the case, no wonder he feels angry.

Clubs treat their legends differently. Barcelona would have played Messi until he chose to stop. When my brother watched Romário for Vasco de Gama in the early 2000s, Romário walked around the pitch while the crowd cheered his every touch. Salah is not Messi, and Liverpool cannot carry a passenger like Romário in his twilight years, but these aren’t the relevant comparisons. Salah’s work rate and conditioning surpass most 33-year-olds, and most players, full stop. What matters is that he deserves even a fraction of the respect those legends received.

I’m not condoning Salah’s outburst; he could have been more stoic, more measured, and considered the needs of the team before his own. Frankly, these comments likely won’t help anyone. 

But in that case, I also can’t condone Slot’s tactical approach, his team selections, or his man-management… all of which have brought us to a place where one of Liverpool’s greatest players feels misled and disrespected.

This slump in form was never Salah’s fault and we’ll need him now more than ever to get us out of it. Sadly, he might not be here to do that.