It’s quite possible that the subs were panned for game time management. We have two games a week for the foreseeable future.
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Fairly obvious Salah was taken off with Sunday in mind.
Although it didn’t look likely to us, I’m sure Klopp was confident our domination would result in us finding a winner without Mo on the pitch.
Last thing we needed was him getting a knock in the last 30 minutes and being unavailable for Sunday
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It most certainly was. Salah played the full game against Brighton, whereas Diaz and Darwin were taken off. Due to this, I said in the pre match thread that maybe Salah could start from the bench.
But he started so the 60 min sub was, to me, completely pre-planned with an eye to Sunday and the Europa match the following week.
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Don’t forget it’s Ramadan and he was fasting
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Always thought Jürgen liked to keep Mo happy.
Even years back he would take Sadio off before Mo, even if Sadio was playing better.
Wonder how if Jürgen is out the door does he worry about these things anymore.
True, true, I let that slip my mind because he got me used to unrealistically high standards.
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I like that Jurgen is such a leader that he will do what he thinks is best, and none of the players are untouchable. Mo is fantastic, our most reliable scorer of goals. Chances are, Jurgen is managing his minutes a bit, looking at the schedule for the rest of the season, as well as keeping one eye on the possible affects of Ramadan. And Mo, while he still has plenty in the tank, is getting a bit older too.
All this is to say Jurgen will do what he thinks will get the best results. If Salah is momentarily unhappy at being subbed off, good! Put your frustration into destroying the Mancs at the weekend.
Whatever rational explanation we might have for it, and how many fans have called for this in various games over the years, it was still a surprise that Klopp did it at 1-1 given his reluctance to do it in the past even in games where Mo was stinking it out. Among the many other things Mo has been, being an ironman has been among the most valuable. But he is now 31, soon to be 32. Obviously he’s had an injury recently and so we may have been conscious of that with a big game coming up, but it could just be that overall we’re starting to see a change in how relentless Mo can be and having to adjust to that new reality.
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Klopp said a few weeks ago when he returned that he had manage him and get as much out of him as possible without risking injury. I wonder if there is something that he is playing through here.
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For a player of his statistical calibre, it’s also incredible the amount of things he can f*ck up. That chance last night, wow. Could’ve been an amateur from Soccer Aid. Not missing it, but the way he didn’t even make proper connection with his foot, but above. And missed the target for a good few metres. Shame, was a big moment last night to potentially go 2 up before HT. Atalanta regrouped at HT and we just didn’t produce in the second half.
What has happened to him??
Maybe time has caught up with him. It will be interesting what the club decide to do with him this summer but I won’t be surprised if he’s sold. I guess it will depend on both his ambition and club’s necessity to continue this rebuild that started last summer. If Saudis still want to offer a huge sum for him, club would be wise to listen this time around.
Yeah, it’s obvious now that he hasn’t looked good post his injury. Mind, he had a similar drop of form when he came back from AFCON in 2022. Now, even physically he doesn’t look right. Perhaps it’s just for the time being. I wouldn’t bet against him looking fresh again after a pre-season. But yeah, we’ll see what all parties decide what to do. And I must say I’m not even so sure like most people that an offer from Saudi would be as high as it was mentioned last summer.
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I could see a European club making an offer for him but I doubt he would want to go to Saudi.
He’s clearly not fully fit at the moment. I suspect a proper break in the summer will do him no end of good. I expect our medical staff will have assessed his fitness and trajectory. If we offer him an extension in the summer then you will know that there’s still life in the old dog. If we don’t then it wouldn’t surprise me to see us run is contract down. There is nothing to stop him signing another next summer.
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Long before aging reduces the top levels someone can perform at, it impacts the frequency with which they can do it. By the time you reach Mo’s age, athletes have to be much more selective about how often they go to the well and factor in longer periods of recovery from big efforts.
I suspect that if Mo does stay he will look fire at the beginning of the season, but with each this slump continues for, he increasingly looks a player you cannot get away with playing as much as we have in the past.
Can we develop reliable enough patterns of attacking play with someone so key who comes into and out of the side like that? Can we afford that? Can he live with that?
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evidence this season already shows that we can no longer carry him. he has effectively checked out of the last few games and the one match we won, he sat.
will be interesting to see if the club sell him this summer or let him walk for a free the following season.
I have to think he is gone this summer. A new manager means a new era with an at best imperfect fit. One way or another, he won’t be a part of the next great LFC side.
At the same time, he still has some good football left in him, and it would be a waste of that year to put them into a transitional side when he could still win something of consequence elsewhere. Pragmatically, the club will be better off getting some value from him, and letting him go somewhere like La Liga if that is his inclination.
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There are a lot of calls to sell Mo Salah for 100m to the Saudi League.
Mo Salah has a contract at Liverpool for another year. He is going nowhere unless he wants to.
I know it’s inconvenient to consider that players actually have their own agendas when we do our fantasy lists, but I just think it needs remembering occasionally.
Aside from that Salah is still our most potent goal threat and had had slumps before. Don’t be so quick to write him off.
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