In his pre-West Ham United press conference, Liverpool boss Arne Slot was asked to speak on the struggles of Mohamed Salah, who is far off his previous form.
Slot acknowledged that Salah is struggling, noting of the Egyptian that, “He sets his own standards and they were so, so high. When he doesn’t score for a few games, it means people are surprised. We are used to Mo scoring a lot of goals, but we also know this has happened before and in the end, he always starts scoring again.”
The Reds head coach
refused to simply blame Salah, however, suggesting his output is a “challenge he has” that the team must address as a whole — and stressing that Salah’s limitations in front of goal are not the only ones. Salah, he said, “is not our only attacker that’s not scoring as much,” presumably referencing both Cody Gakpo and, of late, Hugo Ekitiké.
Though falling short of promising the young Rio Ngumoha more minutes from the start of games, Slot acknowledged the youngster’s improvement over the course these season. Ngumoha was central to both goals (disallowed and winner) against Nottingham Forest, where he played on the opposite side to where we’re used to seeing him. This influence was not a fluke, Slot suggested, pointing to it as evidence of how the young attacker has “developed and became a better player.”
Slot will be looking to manage Ngumoha’s minutes, as over-reliance on a player so young could well damage his career as whole. That said, he has looked bright when coming on, and certainly has played himself in contention for more minutes in the absence of Alexander Isak. Regardless of game time, he has certainly been impactful from the bench.
