Former England and Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher said Liverpool’s veteran striker, Mohamed Salah, should not be considered an automatic starter after the defending Premier League champions Liverpool were handed their third straight defeat, this time by Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday, which saw them fall to fourth in the league standings after Arsenal, Manchester City and Bournemouth with 15 points from eight games.
The 33-year-old Egyptian forward, who signed a two-year contract extension in April, has been way below his record-breaking form from last season’s campaign and has gone seven matches without a non-penalty goal.
“I think we’re at that stage now where Mo Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter every week. I do think this is a real conundrum for the manager going forward,” Carragher told The Gary Neville Podcast.
Salah squandered a golden opportunity to score in Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday and Carragher said he should not be one of the first names on the team sheet like captain Virgil van Dijk.
“I don’t think Salah should be like a Virgil van Dijk where it’s like ‘first name on the teamsheet’,” the former Liverpool defender added in the Sky Sports studio. Liverpool have got two away games – in the Champions League at Frankfurt and then they go to Brentford. I don’t think Salah should start both of those games,” he added.
Carragher said Salah should still start for Liverpool at home in Anfield but not in away games.
“He should always start at Anfield because Liverpool will be on top, around the edge of the box and more often than not he scores in those situations today. But I do think in the away games and helping your full-back, I don’t think Salah should be starting every game right now, certainly away from home, with the form he’s in,” he said.
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Age factor
“Would he be OK with that? Probably not. But when you get to a certain age you have to understand that, especially when you’re not playing well, where’s your argument? It’s different if you’re banging in the goals and your manager makes a tactical decision and you’re frustrated. I don’t think Mo Salah’s in any position to complain if he was left out of one of the next two away games,” he added.
Liverpool came into Sunday’s game on the back of league defeats by Crystal Palace and Chelsea, and a Champions League loss to Galatasaray and ended up losing their fourth game in a row.
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