Mo Salah shouldn’t be on the bench for Arne Slot’s struggling Liverpool side.

It’s a sentiment many supporters will agree with, especially after the Anfield legend watched on for a third game in a row as the Reds blew a 2-0 lead to draw with relegation-threatened Leeds United on Saturday.

Fans probably didn’t think things could get much worse after the Elland Road collapse kept the defending Premier League champions in eighth place, 10 behind frontrunners Arsenal. But this is football. Things can always get worse.

Salah ignited civil war after the match, revealing his true feelings in an incendiary interview with reporters:

“I’ve said a few times before that I have a good relationship with the manager, and now all of a sudden we have no relationship. I don’t know why,” said Salah.

“It seems like the club are throwing me under the bus – that’s how I feel.

“This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will.

“It [the situation] is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I don’t get it. It’s like I’m being thrown more under the bus. I don’t think I’m the problem. I have done so much for this club. I don’t have to fight every day for my position because I earn it. I earned my position.”

Player versus manager. Era-defining legend versus the guy who won a debut title and has slowly unravelled the goodwill since. Whatever side you take, this is a messy situation that really didn’t need to happen.

Salah scored 29 goals and accumulated 18 assists last season, leading Liverpool to the crown in the process. He was undoubtedly the best player in the division and deservedly earned a new two-year contract when it looked like the Saudi riches could sneak in to grab the 33-year-old in his final years.

Things aren’t going well this campaign. Salah has four goals and two assists in 13 appearances – which are numbers most would be happy with – but his overall play is nowhere near as sharp. There are plenty of factors at play, some of which unearth brutal truths about Slot’s long-term suitability as Jurgen Klopp’s successor.

Unfortunately for Slot, this season’s tumble is playing into the narrative that detractors loved to throw at him last year: ‘Slot won the league with Klopp’s team, and with Klopp’s tactics.’

Slot made some smart, progressive tweaks to the German’s ‘heavy metal’ football. He found greater balance in midfield and brought Ryan Gravenberch to the fore when it previously looked like he wouldn’t make it on Merseyside. Slot provided an anchor and greater structure than we saw in Klopp’s final days.

However, this year’s Liverpool are built more in the Dutchman’s philosophy. The pressing game, which used to suffocate opponents into mistakes and force the Reds to play with incredible intensity, is gone. Passing is slower. Runs in behind have dried up. Slot’s Liverpool are playing more like Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United than the crushing machine Klopp left behind. 

So much attention continues to follow new signings Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez after a summer of lavish spending. None have impressed (aside from the excellent Hugo Ekitike). That build of pressure is a natural result of spending huge money on exciting names, but Slot’s issues actually began with who Liverpool lost in the summer.

The tragic death of Diogo Jota will continue to weigh heavily on everyone at the club. He was a tremendous footballer, a smart forward who regularly won games with a great bit of movement or a tricky finish. It’s impossible to fathom what his colleagues continue to go through, so the mental toll shouldn’t be underestimated.

The combined toll of losing Jota, plus selling Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, has fundamentally changed how this team plays. Slot has nobody who breaks the opposition’s defensive line anymore. Cody Gakpo cuts inside too often and tends to slow play down rather than stretch the pitch. Liverpool doesn’t drive forward as it used to, and it exposes Salah, whose legs are slowing.

Alexander-Arnold may be a target of the fans’ hatred now, but his absence is playing a major role in Salah’s struggles. Liverpool misses his ability to bring the ball forward and to spread play with a pitch-splitting pass. 

His understanding with Salah was one of the club’s most important throughout Klopp’s trophy-laden run. They played with such precision, knowing where each other would run, when to overlap, when to drop, and when to open space. We’re not seeing that now, as Salah and many others seem to be playing without instinct.

Slot holding Salah to account would make sense if Liverpool were playing their old, energetic style and he couldn’t keep up. But they’re nowhere near. Salah has worked incredibly hard for years and was a major part of the best pressing team in the world. Don’t tell me he isn’t willing to put the yards in now. Ibrahima Konate continues to fluff his way around the pitch and starts every week.

The most worrying aspect of all this is Slot’s willingness to push players out of position to keep Salah on the bench. Dominik Szoboszlai has arguably been the Reds’ best player this campaign, but no situation should result in him playing right wing over a fully fit Salah. The manager is also shying away from pairing up Isak and Ekitike up front, but insists on Gakpo’s predictability longer than he should. The possibility of what Ekitike, Isak, and Salah could achieve together is surely worth a shot, given how badly things are going. Let these relationships develop before it’s too late.

I’m sure Salah doesn’t regret staying at Liverpool. Any player taking their career seriously would opt to stay with a European title challenger rather than going to Saudi Arabia. However, you have to wonder if Slot feels the same about him. 

Salah is the symbol of the Klopp era, the man whose drop-off heightens any suggestion that Liverpool is losing steam. Not playing him doesn’t hide the evidence. It just confirms that the squad and individual players are trending lower the longer Slot influences them.