Liverpool have struggled for goals in recent weeks and Mohamed Salah has been one of the players who has come in for criticism, but Joleon Lescott doesn’t think he should be dropped
Joleon Lescott reckons Arne Slot shouldn’t axe Mohamed Salah from Liverpool’s starting XI. The former Everton defender has hit back at those who have demanded the Egyptian be dropped to the bench.
Salah has been absolutely crucial for Liverpool over recent seasons and earned himself a two-year deal extension back in April. But the 33-year-old hasn’t hit the ground running this campaign by his sky-high standards.
He’s managed just two Premier League strikes in eight outings and netted only once in the Champions League. Salah looked well off the pace during the Reds’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester United last weekend.
Demands for him to be relegated to the substitutes’ bench have grown louder, with Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher sticking to his guns that the Egyptian needs fewer minutes. However Lescott, who turned out 143 times for the Toffees, disagrees.
Speaking on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: “I don’t think Salah should be dropped. Rested maybe at certain times, yes. But the thing is with him, he’s not performing any differently is he? He’s just not getting the goals.
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“He’s not getting the chances. If he starts missing chances, then I can question his form because Salah is for me undoubtedly a match decider. But his performances are pretty much the same.
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“He’s operating in the same area of the field, he’s not asked to do much defensive work because he’s so efficient when he gets the ball in the final third in the box. If he’s doing that then I’ve got to look at the team and be like, ‘Well, why are we not getting him the ball?'”
Lescott then outlined what Liverpool must do to get Salah back amongst the goals again. He added: “Similar to [Erling] Haaland. I think there’s been times where he’s been so efficient in front of the goal, if we just get him the ball in front the goal he’ll do his job. I think Liverpool need to get that to that.”
Milos Kerkez is another player who has endured a difficult start to this campaign. He set the Reds back around £40million from Bournemouth during the summer after impressing last term but has yet to justify the expectations placed upon him.
Lescott believes that Kerkez will need to adapt to the heightened spotlight following his switch to Anfield but must rise above the additional pressure. He continued: “Kerkez had an exceptional season last year but it’s a different outfit to have to do that at Liverpool. It’s totally different.
“In the greatest respect to him and Bournemouth, he’s probably been on TV more this season and scrutinised more than he was the whole of last season.
“So you’ve got to get used to that, you’ve gotta know that when you play for teams like Bournemouth, most clubs want you to do well, everyone’s ready to praise you, but when you get to Liverpool only Liverpool fans want you to play well.
“There’s an expectation and there’s people waiting for you to fail in a way. So you have got to get used to the pressure of that and that’s what comes with playing in a big club.”
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