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"He just looks gone" - Mohamed Salah's fitness is burned out - The Football Show

Mohamed Salah needs more frequent rests, but can Liverpool afford to give them to him?



Pat Nevin joined The Football Show and Joe Molloy to discuss Mohamed Salah and Liverpool.

Liverpool will play one Premier League game in September. They played it on September 3rd when they drew with Everton.

Last weekend's game against Wolves was postponed and next weekend's game against Chelsea has been postponed. That means tomorrow night's Champions League match with Ajax is their last game until October 1st. It's a midseason break during a season when there is already a midseason break for the World Cup.

Jurgen Klopp won't admit to being happy about it, but he's probably happy about it.

His Liverpool side are dealing with loads of injuries. The players who are healthy all look tired, except for Luis Diaz. That includes superstar Mohammed Salah, says Pat Nevin.

"Sometimes it's not the problem that is right in front of you," Nevin said.

"Sometimes it might be a wider one that takes its time building. And it's always been in my mind that, I always worry about players like Salah. He never gets a break, he plays over Summers, huge numbers of games every year and he's just human. He's normal, he's a bloke."

Salah is still a goal threat at all times, but his contributions in general play since the Charity Shield win over Manchester City have been minimal. He doesn't link up play well. He doesn't win the ball back high upfield. Salah might be making runs, but not with the same success as before.

Salah needs to refresh and this time off might help him.

"It's going to wipe him out at some point in time. And there has been games you've watched Salah and however brilliant he is, he just looks gone. That's not me slaughtering him, that's me saying the guy needs to be managed correctly.

"And I think that's the case with a number of the players.

"That's the modern game. It may well be that footballers don't play 700, 800 or 900 games anymore."

Liverpool do not have the depth that Manchester City have. They cannot rotate and rest players when they want to. If they do, their results will drop off and they will fear missing out on Champions League places, never mind compete for Premier League titles.

Klopp needs Salah at his best. Especially with Darwin Nunez failing to impress.

Trent Alexander-Arnold can improve his defending.

 

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Jurgen Klopp Liverpool Mohamed Salah Premier League