There was an inevitability about it as soon as Mohamed Salah was an unused substitute in last week’s first leg, and was then restored to the XI for Saturday’s Premier League win over Fulham: the Liverpool superstar is benched again for the crunch visit of Paris Saint-Germain to Anfield.
Unfathomable as anything but an automatic starter less than 12 months ago, it’s an indicator of just how far Salah has fallen in what is now confirmed to be his final season for the club, where he has made himself an all-time legend over the past nine years.
Arne Slot rotated the Liverpool team for the visit of Fulham to keep as many of his most important players fresh for PSG. The Dutchman even gambled on Alexander Isak, handing the record signing a first start since Dec. 9 after only two substitute appearances into his comeback from a fractured leg.
Liverpool paid the best part of $168 million (£125 million) for Isak and so need the Swede to step up on these kinds of stages—PSG hold a 2–0 aggregate lead from the first leg. But Slot had a reason for selecting him in the starting lineup at the expense Salah.
Isak Selection Decision Impacts Salah
The Liverpool manager spoke to Prime Video ahead of kick off and appeared to suggest his team will favor a direct route into both Isak and Hugo Ekitiké, starting together for just the third time.
“The thinking is that we need to score goals and there are goals in these players. They are two target men, two players we can play in to,” Slot explained.
But there is another factor, too. Isak’s lack of match fitness means his availability is still limited.
“As you might not know, Alex will not be able to play much more than 45 minutes. So if you bring him in, with the possibility of extra time, it makes sense to me to start him [instead],” Slot clarified.
The logic there is that, should Isak be put into the game at halftime, say, the limit on his minutes could be exceeded should Liverpool win by two goals and force an extra half-hour to be played. The alternative would substituting a substitute, which is a humiliating experience for any player.
Slot’s Pregame Dig at Salah?
Salah isn’t known—and never really has been—for his defensive work off the ball.
He’s considered a luxury player, one usually let off running back towards his own goal so that he can be fresh and deadly when it comes to driving towards the right goal.
Slot, who didn’t even turn to Salah from the bench in the first leg, might have let slip a major reason why the Egyptian King—now that he isn’t producing as much in an attacking sense—is out of the team.
Reading between the lines, Slot identifying that “matching [PSG’s] intensity off the ball” will be key to Liverpool having any chance of pulling this off speaks loudly.
Plans Thrown into Chaos
However, the injury that forced Ekitiké out of the game on a stretcher after half an hour made a mockery of Slot’s carefully thought out strategy. Salah, rather than Cody Gakpo or Rio Ngumoha, was chosen to replace the stricken Frenchman, for whom the situation did not look good.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Mohamed Salah Is Benched Again for Liverpool vs. PSG.
