OPINION
Liverpool’s performance against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday night was pretty dreadful from start to finish, with little inspiration provided by the Reds.
And the team’s tough run of fixtures doesn’t get any easier when they welcome Premier League champions Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday.
It’s easy to make knee-jerk reactions after disappointing results, but in this case manager Jurgen Klopp must realise that star man Mohamed Salah needs a wake up call.
The Egyptian has beenuntouchable from the moment he arrived on Merseyside – rightfully so after his supreme debut season at the club.
However, he has been massively below par this term and that poor form must have a consequence. In this instance, that means Klopp dropping the 26-year-old for the City clash.
It’s a big call, and a divisive one, but Salah simply seems devoid of confidence at the moment. We’re just not seeing him produce the dazzling form that he displayed on a weekly basis last term, and Liverpool can’t afford any passengers against a team of City’s calibre.
The Egypt international has been given plenty of chances to turn his faltering form around this year, but he hasn’t been able to do it and his listless performance in Naples was merely the latest in a succession of disappointing performances from the Reds talisman.
No one should be undroppable, and Klopp happens to have two ready made replacements who could both come in and do a sterling job against Pep Guardiola’s side.
The obvious Salah replacement would be striker Daniel Sturridge, who has impressed in a bit-part role so far this campaign. The England international furthered his claims for a starting spot with a stunning equaliser against Chelsea last Saturday.
If one of Liverpool’s famed front three are underperforming then Sturridge is the natural replacement, and it just so happens that it’s last year’s Premier Player of the Season Mohamed Salah who is struggling.
The alternative would be summer signing Xherdan Shaqiri who, like Sturridge, has excelled in limited action this term. The Swiss star is a creative force who would slot in perfectly on the right hand side usually occupied by Salah.
Salah cannot be allowed to continue his poor form forever, and with such an important game on the horizon, Klopp must do the unthinkable and drop the mercurial Egyptian.
