Jamie Carragher believes that Arne Slot was well within his right to bench Mohamed Salah against Eintracht Frankfurt. The ‘Egyptian King’ was relegated from Liverpool’s starting XI on Wednesday evening, with the manager rolling out Hugo Ekitike on the right flank instead.
It comes as Salah hasn’t been his usual self this season thus far, managing just three goals and assists a piece from 12 outings across all competitions. And as a result, a number of fans and pundits worldwide have questioned whether it’s time to let the 33-year-old’s batteries recharge.
That’s exactly what Slot decided to do as the Reds headed to Deutsche Bank Park on Wednesday night to take on Frankfurt in the Champions League, utilising a front three of Ekitike, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak.
And ahead of the game, when probed about Slot’s choice to demote Salah – usually an integral part of his squad – to the bench, Carragher was seemingly pleased. He said: “It remains to be seen on the game, but I just think when Mo Salah isn’t being ‘the legendary Mo Salah’, he gets treated like one of the other players which is right.
“And you don’t forget his age as well. He’s 33 years of age, Liverpool will have three games in six days.
“So at the moment, if he’s not at his absolute best, he shouldn’t play six games in three days because there’s other options there as well. We know Liverpool have spent a lot of money. Liverpool have got a big game as well on Saturday (against Brentford), so great decision, Arne.”
The move ultimately bore fruit for Liverpool, who ran out 5-1 winners over Frankfurt away from home in a dominant display. Rasmus Kristensen opened the scoring for the hosts 26 minutes into the fixture, must to the distaste of Reds fans worldwide.
However, it didn’t take Ekitike long to come back to haunt his former club, squaring the match nine minutes later. From there, the proverbial floodgates seemed to open for the side, as Virgil van Dijk gave Liverpool the lead six minutes before half-time.
Ibrahima Konate also managed to find the back of the opposition net as the first-half ran to a close. The second-half was also incredibly eventful, with Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai each notching goals to seal out an emphatic 5-1 win under the bright lights.
While Salah was introduced to the match in the 74th-minute, he failed to make much of an impact on the game, which was already put to bed by the time he graced the field of play.
Thanks to the win, Liverpool ultimately closed out a four-match losing streak in tremendous fashion, given they headed into the fixture on the back of consecutive losses to Crystal Palace, Galatasaray, Chelsea and Manchester United.
They will now turn their attention to Premier League action, as they face Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium on Saturday evening. The defending champions currently sit third in the league standings, four points behind Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, and will hope to bridge the gap and build momentum this weekend.
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