Liverpool legend John Aldridge reckons there is now a “debate” to be had about whether “selling” Mo Salah would be a good idea after his below-par performance in the Reds’ 1-0 loss to Bournemouth on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Manchester United 7-0 last weekend but failed to use their momentum against the Cherries on Saturday.
Salah missed a crucial penalty in the second half as Liverpool looked to get back into the match following Philip Billings’ opener for Bournemouth.
And Aldridge now thinks Salah was “dreadful” against the Cherries and there will now be a serious debate over whether Liverpool should sell the Egyptian in the summer.
“In the last few seasons, Klopp’s team had too much pace, power and desire for these relegation battlers to handle,” Aldridge wrote in his column for Sunday World.
“Yet all that has changed – and I look at Mohamed Salah’s body language, and something isn’t right.
“After his goals against United last Sunday, I was looking to Salah to lead the team for the rest of the season and starring banging in two or three goals a week consistently.
“We all know how good Salah has been and still is, but he was dreadful yesterday and won’t need me to tell him that.
“Take his missed penalty out of the equation and he turned in a display that lacked passion – and I hate to write negative things about a player who is an all-time Liverpool great.
“There may be a debate over whether selling Salah this summer and using that money to reinvest in the team may be an option, but that idea can wait until the end of the season.
“Between now and then, Salah has to lead Liverpool as the senior striker – and he simply didn’t do that at Bournemouth.”
On their failure to back up the performance against Man Utd, Aldridge added: “Momentum is massive in football – and you can’t have a bigger injection of self-belief than a 7-0 win against your biggest rivals.
“A place in the top four was within sight once again, until we were given an unwanted reminder about the flaws that have undermined Liverpool all season.
“Ask me to pick out a player who came out of that mess at Bournemouth with any credit and I’m struggling.
“Everyone turned in a six out of ten performance or worse and you can’t win football matches when every player is under par.
“A pattern has developed in recent weeks and continued yesterday, as it’s clear to me that some Liverpool players are struggling to get themselves up for matches against the lesser teams, especially away from home.
“When they have a big game, like United at Anfield, the players and the fans are all up for it – and you see the team playing like we know they can.
“Then you look at the performance in the 3-0 defeat at Brighton, the 3-0 defeat at Wolves, the loss at Nottingham Forest and this display at Bournemouth – and you are left wondering what’s going on.
“They are four of the worst teams in the Premier League, and they see a game against Liverpool as their cup final.”
