Mohamed Salah ‘needs to be dropped’, claims former Liverpool striker who has noticed problem that may prevent Klopp decision

Jurgen Klopp has been advised to drop Mohamed Salah from his Liverpool starting lineup, although the pundit making the claim has explained why that might not be easy.

Mohamed Salah is one of several under-performing players at Liverpool presently. On paper, his numbers look decent; he has scored five goals and provided four assists from 12 appearances in all competitions this season.

However, he hasn’t scored in the Premier League since August. In the bigger picture, Liverpool are not getting the results they would want. After eight games, they are stuck in 10th place, having only won twice in the top flight this term.

Manager Klopp knows he has a lot of thinking to do about how to turn their fortunes around. Until things change, their key players like Salah will be in the spotlight.

Now, former Liverpool striker John Aldridge has explained why in ordinary circumstances Salah would be getting dropped right now. However, he has admitted the injury to Luis Diaz might buy the Egyptian some more time.

Aldridge told the Liverpool Echo: “I’m one of Mo Salah’s biggest fans but he needs to be dropped. He needs to be left out because he’s not doing himself justice and he’s not doing the team justice.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re Mo Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi. At that stage you’ve got to be left out for your own good. Whether Klopp can actually do that now that Diaz is injured, I don’t know.

“Mo’s not the only one, don’t get me wrong. There are so many players below form and they have been for a while. The manager’s trying to get them to play through it. It’s very loyal but he doesn’t really have many alternatives.”

According to Aldridge, another change of system might be due for Liverpool. Klopp has recently been picking four forwards together, as opposed to his usual three.

One body has been sacrificed from his midfield as a result. However, Aldridge thinks that only works if Fabinho is at the top of his game, which is not currently the case.

Mohamed Salah still only option on right in whichever system

Therefore, it could soon be back to a 4-3-3 – which Salah should yet be part of due to a lack of alternatives.

Aldridge added: “The four players up front, and you can include Bobby [Roberto Firmino] in that, are all fantastic players. They can work but to make it work, you need to have a real holding midfielder in the midfield two who can get across and get the tackles in.

“Fabinho’s the one but he’s not been playing well this year. Can Hendo [Jordan Henderson] do that? He’s a creative midfielder for me, like Thiago. They’re creative. You need someone who can really defend and shield your defenders.

“It’s not ideal to have Hendo and Thiago there together because it’s not in their DNA. They can do a good job, don’t get me wrong. But their job is different to what we need when you’re going to play four front lads up.

“You need to play at least one proper defensive midfielder. Maybe two on some occasions. Fabinho has to play against [Manchester] City. You have to have defensive players on the pitch who can do a job.

“Klopp might have to go back, with the injury of Diaz, and revert to 4-3-3 but we’ll have to see. With Diaz out, the front three is going to be [Diogo] Jota, [Darwin] Nunez or Bobby and then Mo.

“They haven’t got another right winger. The only other one is Jota who can play out there, who’s going to get you goals really. That’s where we are at the moment.”

Liverpool are next in action on Wednesday night, when they visit Rangers for their latest Champions League group match.

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