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Mohamed Salah has written himself plenty of records during his stellar nine years in the Premier League with Liverpool.
However, on Sunday, the Egyptian earned himself one he will not be pleased to look back upon.
Having failed to find the net during the late win over Nottingham Forest, Salah made it nine Premier League matches without a goal for the first time ever.
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Photo Creidt; Getty Images/Liverpool FC
If that statistic was bad enough, then the 33-year-old’s overall performance made things look even worse. Salah was dismal from beginning to end, giving the ball away constantly and being comfortably outbattled by former Liverpool full-back Neco Williams.
It was telling that Arne Slot had seen enough with 15 minutes left on the clock, choosing to put Salah out of his misery with a substitution. It was not before time. With the No. 11 actively hindering Liverpool at this point, Slot must bring the returning Jeremie Frimpong back to start on the right wing during next weekend’s visit of West Ham.
Jeremie Frimpong offers Salah solution
Slot confirmed that Frimpong will hopefully be back in contention for next Saturday’s game, and while there may be a clamour to get him involved at right-back, he simply must relieve Salah.
The legendary Egypt captain looks for all the world like a player who is just no longer physically capable of making an impact for Liverpool.
Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
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Federico Chiesa was the player who came in on the Liverpool right to replace Salah, but the Italian is similarly lacking in the necessary steel to play right now. It has to be Frimpong.
Back in December, Salah could not believe that he had been benched and took aim at Slot in the public sphere for the decision. Fast forward barely two months, and he can have no argument at all.
Even if Frimpong is not ready, Salah must not go again when West Ham come to Anfield. Watching him play has become painful and it is not befitting of his legendary status with the Reds.
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Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images Right-back problems can wait for Liverpool
Perhaps the person most delighted to see Frimpong return next week will be Dominik Szoboszlai, who is likely sick of his shifts at right-back.
But as Szoboszlai – and latterly Curtis Jones – showed against Forest, Liverpool can struggle on playing midfielders on the right of the defence for now.
What they cannot afford to do is to keep on playing Salah when he is actively harming their chances of winning matches.
Another option for Liverpool could be Rio Ngumoha, who was arguably Liverpool’s best player during his cameo at the City Ground. Coming on as Salah exited the pitch, the 17-year-old was everything the Egyptian was not: fast, direct and dangerous.
With Slot unlikely to chuck Ngumoha in from the start against West Ham, though, it has to be Frimpong. The right-back problems can wait, in Salah’s continued downturn, Liverpool have a much more pressing issue.
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