Mason Mount must be asking what more he needs to do to get onto the pitch following another 90 minutes of sitting on the Chelsea bench.
The 24-year-old was recently missing with a pelvic injury but returned to the squad for Saturday evening's 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge. It was the game that turned out to be the final straw for Graham Potter, who was sacked around 24 hours later from the head coach role.
Bruno Saltor was the man who stepped up into the interim role to temporarily replace Potter, but even with the Spaniard at the helm, there were still no minutes on the pitch for Mount. The England international was out on his own on the Stamford Bridge pitch at the end of the game doing a vigorous warm down session with a couple of Chelsea coaches.
Mount has been in poor form this season, failing to meet the standards he had previously set for himself over the past two couple of campaigns. Last term, Mount scored 11 goals and provided 10 assists in the Premier League and the season before he recorded six of each. This season, however, with just nine Premier League games left, he has three goals and two assists.
So there is obviously the argument that he does not deserve to come on and try to help his teammates, who once again wasted so many great opportunities against Liverpool. But this is someone who has been so crucial to Chelsea over the years. One cannot help think that his contract situation and continuous transfer speculation is having an affect on his minutes at the moment.
football.london reported last month that Mount moving to Liverpool in the summer transfer window is a serious possibility with the Reds doing recent groundwork. Mount will enter the final 12 months of his Chelsea contract in the summer and the new ownership group are keen to avoid the club's past mistakes and be more decisive when it comes to those in the latter stages of their deals at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea go to Wolves on Saturday afternoon for their next Premier League test and it will be quite telling to see if Mount is involved at Molineux. The Cobham graduate will have his eyes on next week's potentially season-defining Champions League clash with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, but should he not appear at the weekend, the chances of him getting any kind of minutes in the Spanish capital look very slim.
Klopp shares a joke with Bruno
Bruno was rather downbeat in his post-match press conference at Stamford Bridge. He had just seen his side miss a handful of golden opportunities and have two goals disallowed against Liverpool, so it is understandable.
But one thing is for sure: it will be a night the Spaniard will never forget. His first-ever game in charge of a professional football team. Against Liverpool. A clean sheet. It's not all bad, Bruno.
The 42-year-old was quite frantic on the touchline. He barely sat down. In fact, it is tough to actually recall a time where he wasn't on his feet.
He even shared a laugh with Jurgen Klopp. I'm not sure how sincere the laugh was, though. It almost looked like an angry laugh from the Liverpool boss.
Bruno was incensed that Fabinho avoided a booking in the first-half for a rather cynical foul. He and his coaching staff berated the fourth official and Klopp stood in the background and laughed at them. Bruno sort of shrugged his shoulders at Klopp and shared a smile with the German.
It all seemed rather light-hearted and the two embraced at full-time. Already mixing it with the best, Bruno. Good to see.
READ NEXT:
Bruno Saltor responds to big Chelsea question after Liverpool draw amid Julian Nagelsmann links
Chelsea player ratings vs Liverpool as N'Golo Kante and Fofana brilliant, Kai Havertz poor
Chelsea set next manager appointment date as Todd Boehly looks for Graham Potter replacement
Chelsea told to make Zinedine Zidane statement after Graham Potter exit
Chelsea's Graham Potter tipping point and who will take charge amid Julian Nagelsmann interest
