Mohamed Salah’s Decline and Liverpool’s Struggles
Mohamed Salah has long been considered one of the most talented players in the Premier League. However, recent performances have raised questions about whether he can still perform at the top level. Graeme Souness, a former Liverpool legend and manager, believes that Salah is no longer the player he once was.
Souness shared his thoughts on the situation, stating, “What happens, in my opinion and in my experience, is your career happens one of two ways. When you get to that sort of 33-34 age area, it’s either falling off a cliff, or it’s a slow decline. I think Salah is the former.”
He went on to explain that he noticed a change in Salah’s performance during the first game of the season, the Community Shield against Crystal Palace. “I was sitting next to my young son, I said, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with him?’ And then I thought, maybe he needs half a dozen games to get up to speed. But he’s never improved.”
Salah’s current stats this season are a far cry from previous years. He has scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in all competitions, which, while decent for an average Premier League player, pales in comparison to his past seasons. Last season, he had 44 goal contributions, and the season before that, 34. His lowest contribution tally prior to this season was 27 in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Souness believes that Salah’s best days are behind him. “His best is behind him now, there’s no doubt about that. The first person to know that is yourself, and it happens to everyone. I don’t see the same sparkle.”
He also pointed out that Salah has been the go-to man for Liverpool for several years. “He has completely changed games when it wasn’t going their way, and he has scored a ridiculous number of goals every season. He’s a great – a Liverpool great – but his best season is behind him.”
This leads to the question: what should Liverpool do about it? Souness is clear on his stance. “Yes, I think Salah should leave at the end of the season, despite the Egypt international’s contract running up until 2027.” While this may unsettle some supporters, Souness remains firm in his belief that Salah is not performing at the level expected.
Liverpool recently advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals by defeating Galatasaray, but Souness is not convinced they will go all the way. “I thought Galatasaray were exceptionally poor. I expected so much more from them. They didn’t believe they could get a result,” he said. “And Liverpool, okay, you can only beat what’s in front of you, but Liverpool are not the same team as last year. Wednesday night was a good game for them because the opposition was so weak.”
Looking beyond Liverpool, Souness is confident about Arsenal’s chances of winning the league. “I think Arsenal will win the league.” When asked if they could achieve a quadruple, he responded, “No, but they’re a pragmatic team. They know how to win football matches, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ve won leagues and were we always the prettiest outfit? No, we just got the job done.”
Souness also criticized Arsenal’s reliance on set-piece specialist Nicolas Jover. “I just think we’ve got daft referees. We’ve got poor referees who don’t really understand the game. They know all the rules from the first page to the last one, but nuances of the game they don’t get.” He added, “To be successful at free kicks you need a really good kicker of the ball, Declan, you need people who will attack the ball, they’ve got that, and then you throw in the guy who’s fouling the goalkeeper. It’s not rocket science.”
In addition, Souness expressed doubts about Chelsea’s current form. “Chelsea are – I don’t know what they are,” he said. “Chelsea are a group of young men put together with no real direction. I think the manager (Rosenior) tries too hard with his terminology. Giving players ‘assignments’. If the manager said that to me, I’d have laughed at him in his face.”
Finally, Souness mentioned Flutter’s Cash4Clubs initiative, which aims to support 250 community clubs across the UK and Ireland with £500,000 in grants.
