Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has called on Arne Slot to drop Mohamed Salah after Liverpool’s defeat by Nottingham Forest.
Salah, who has scored five goals across all competitions, has not been anywhere close to his best so far this season.
The Egyptian forward’s lack of defensive work has come in for criticism, with Rooney the latest pundit to call for him to be dropped as Slot looks for answers to Liverpool’s wretched run of form.
The Reds, who spent a record £446million on new players in the summer, currently sit 11th in the Premier League table having lost half of their games so far, hitting a new low with Saturday’s dismal 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
“Salah is not helping them defensively,” Rooney said on the latest edition of the Wayne Rooney Show.
"I’m sure if you're one of the players who they've signed and you're sat on the bench and you've seen him not running - and I get that he's a club legend and everything he's done for the club - but if you're on the bench, then what message does that send to you that you see one of your team-mates not running back?
“And he’s starting every game. So I think if I was Arne Slot, I'd try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team.”
Asked if he felt that Salah should be dropped, Rooney replied: “I think so. 100 per cent he needs to make a decision and get them compact, get them hard to beat and every player running back and working back.
“Then obviously when they start winning games, you can bring him back in and hope he is running back more. I think that’ll have an impact on the team for sure.”
Salah enjoyed a record-breaking campaign last term as Liverpool romped to the league title in Slot’s first season in charge.
The 33-year-old started this season productively, with four goal involvements in his opening five league games.
However, his drop in form - he has scored just twice in the last three months - has coincided with Liverpool losing six of their last seven league matches.
Rooney went on to say that he sympathised with Liverpool, who have been dealing with the death of Diogo Jota in July.
"They're going through a hard time, aren't they?” Rooney continued.
"You've probably got to look at the effect of what sadly happened to Jota. What effect does that have on the players because that's his team-mates? That surely has to have an effect.
"But then there's no excuse for not fighting and not tackling."
