Arsenal legend Ian Wright has analyzed why Mohamed Salah’s form has deteriorated so much at Liverpool so far this season.
The Egyptian international was unable to stop the Reds last season and won the Golden Boot en route to leading the club to the Premier League title.
However, there is no trace of his former side at the moment, and Wright believes he will miss the presence of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The former Liverpool right-back was an important player alongside Salah on that side of the pitch, giving him quality passes that helped unleash him.
Wright said Liverpool had taken that ability away from Salah, making him look like a “passenger” as a result.
Ian Wright talks about Mohamed Salah’s poor form at Liverpool
Speaking on Overlap, Wright was one of a number of pundits discussing Liverpool’s problems at the moment.
Paul Scholes blamed Milos Kerkes for his poor start since joining LFC from Bournemouth in the summer, but Salah explained the big problem is that Alexander-Arnold is no longer behind him.
“If someone like Trent wasn’t released when he was at that stage of, oh, he’s free, there’s someone who can attack right away, he’s exactly the same as he is now… They took that away from him. They took it away from Mo Salah,” Wright said.
“He can’t get fast balls. He can’t get great balls from Trent and he can’t do his job. When you look at him right now, he looks like a passenger.”
Can Mohamed Salah bounce back at Liverpool?
It will be a big challenge for Arne Slott to sack Salah again, as the shape of the team is very different from last season.
As well as missing out on Alexander-Arnold, the Merseyside giants have a number of new signings who need to stick around, but that hasn’t happened yet.
Salah is not getting any younger either, so last season was probably his real peak and it will be difficult for him to hit like that again.