Mohamed Salah's Liverpool struggles blamed on exit of key player last summer as out-of-favour Egyptian is told to 'look in the mirror' by former Reds striker

On the back of signing a two-year contract extension in April, the new season started brightly enough for Salah. He registered three goals through five Premier League and Champions League appearances as the title holders of English football enjoyed a faultless opening.

The wheels soon began to fall off, though, for all concerned. Salah went six games without finding the target at one stage, with a barren run of the same length being endured at present. The 33-year-old has not seen as many minutes as he would have liked of late.

He has been named among the substitutes in four consecutive Premier League fixtures. The third entry on that list saw Liverpool held to a dramatic 3-3 draw at Leeds. After that contest, Salah accused the Reds of throwing him under the bus and admitted to seeing his working relationship with head coach Arne Slot break down.

The decision was taken not to include Salah in a travelling party that secured a 1-0 win over Inter at San Siro in European competition. He was recalled for a domestic date with Brighton and recorded an assist after being introduced in the 26th minute of that fixture.

He has now headed off on Africa Cup of Nations duty, with questions still being asked of whether a transfer could be agreed in January - with big-spending Saudi Pro League sides sniffing around again.

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Asked to explain Salah’s issues, with legend status being secured on Merseyside after plundering 250 goals, ex-Reds striker Saunders - speaking with GOAL via Bundesliga odds - said: “Who would have thought it could go this wrong? But I did think at the time, he’s going to miss Trent because Trent’s disguised passing got him in. Full-backs knew where Salah was but Trent wouldn’t even look at him sometimes and find him. Trent played inside him and passed the ball outside and said ‘if you need me, if you need to give it back to me, when you give it back I’ve got the magic wand to find anybody in the box’. He was brilliant at it, whipping in a cross or pinging one. Clubs made sure they got someone out to Trent because they knew he could hurt them, and that left Mo Salah one v one with the full-back. Now, they are leaving the full-back on the ball because they can’t hurt them like Trent did. They have had five right-backs play

“I’m sticking up for him a little bit here. He’s lost [Diogo] Jota and [Darwin] Nunez and [Luis] Diaz. Diaz used to go outside the full-back and cross it. [Cody] Gakpo never goes outside the full-back. He’s lost Andy Robertson, who used to join in with Diaz and overlap and get to the byline and Mo Salah is coming in from the other wing. He’s got a bit of an argument on why he’s not playing well, which is fair enough. But I would say to him: ‘When’s the last time you beat the full-back? When was the last time you cut inside and hit one in the top corner? When’s the last goal you scored? When’s the last time you looked like Mo Salah, the one we know? So look in the mirror and sort your own game out’.

“I understand what he’s saying, but to then come out with what he did after it was obvious that Slot has gone for a clean sheet at West Ham. He’s obviously gone ‘we need a clean sheet, I’m going to sacrifice attacking’ and he played [Dominik] Szoboszlai in Mo’s position and it looked a bit more solid, considering the back four has been a shambles all season. And the game at Inter, that was the best back four he could put out - Joe Gomez, [Virgil] van Dijk, [Ibrahima] Konate and Andy Robertson, with Alisson behind, a tight midfield, and they looked a bit harder to beat again. He must understand what the manager is trying to do by leaving him out, but in his head he thinks ‘I’m the best player in the world, how can you do this to me?’ He shouldn’t have said what he said and he needs to apologise. If he apologises, things can be swept under the carpet.”

Slot confirmed ahead of a meeting with Brighton that he would be speaking with Salah. Issues appear to have been ironed out, as he was turned to first when Liverpool needed somebody to step off the bench and cover Gomez’s injury against the Seagulls, but it remains to be seen what the long-term future will hold.