Is Salah Finished? | Trabzonspor player... yes you read it right

I do find it funny when people get all up in arms about a player who is visibly regressing before their very eyes and can’t accept that in some cases, it can just happen.

His game absolutely relied on his ability to be faster than others and make incredible movements in tight spaces. Basic biology means that as you approach your mid 30s, that kind of physical ability starts to go backwards.

It’s not a criticism, it’s just literally happening. I’m enjoying it more because the hardcore group are absolutely not having it. The same goes for VVD. The best run club in the land handed out fat contracts to two players who absolutely needed their athletic capability to display their clear footballing ability…go figure.
 
Liverpool fans can't blame FSG for this one. FSG would rather have sold him, they saw the cliff edge coming, but the fans pressurised them to give him a fat new contract.

And now those same fans are demanding Salah be dropped! :lol:
 
He's not going to be getting back to where he was. Last year was his swansong. He'll have his moments, like the goal he scored the other week. But I think his production going down, plus has lack of work rate going backwards will mean he'll be overtaken by younger forwards.

They should have cashed in, and he should have pushed for the move. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. He'll go at the end of the season and cash in in Saudi. Now whether Liverpool will be able to cash in to the same extent, I'm not sure. Getting him off the wage bill but taking a cut in what they would have got this last summer might be where they will be at.
 
NotChatGPT said:
Liverpool are doing an amazing job at highlighting his weak areas. Even when he was offside and had a head start he couldn’t keep Rico behind him. Needs to be nurtured a lot more than Liverpool are currently doing.
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Absolutely. As a player ages you have to compensate for that and reduce the amount of unnecessary running and energy expenditure you have them do - condense the pitch around them and have them focus on the specialist set of skills that got them to the top in the first place, whilst having others be their legs with the white noise stuff.

Liverpool have not only removed Salah's shadow distraction and decoy in Trent by not repeating the feat with an aggressive overlapper, but they've also taken the whole direction of the attack away from Salah, having him have to work harder to be involved in less actions over longer distances than he has shone in during the recent past. They've done everything in their power to exacerbate Salah's decline, like when Ten Hag thought it would be a brilliant idea to have Casemiro attempt to patrol an entire midfield on his own with no support at his then oldest age in his career. Genius!

The irony with Liverpool is they've probably brought all those players in to reduce Salah's load and have him join in to plays as and when he feels like it, but because they've got every ounce of integration wrong, it's had the opposite effect and made Salah work harder for even less reward!

He should be focusing on quick shimmies and slight turns into killer passes and shots, not trying to run from the final third toward goal every second play whilst also being expected to track men backwards. I'm quite certain that if Salah were provided even half the components at his disposal in terms of supporting teammates from last season, you'd see a large uptake in his performance level and output, even in decline. It wouldn't be this car crash we're currently seeing where he looks like he's been space jammed.
 
No way is he finished.

He needs to adapt. And the manager should make required changes for him to adapt. Get him a more central role, give him more time on the ball and ask him to pick out runners and trust me he will be lethal.

Same was done to Giggs. And he flourished. Wonder if the manager will make these changes though
 
His entire game is based on running in behind defenders with his pace while Liverpool play direct balls to him, and cutting in. He’s not as fast and physically aggressive any longer and I don’t see how his style of play is going to hold up. Slot’s style of play is also not as direct as Klopp’s.

Can he switch to a different position? I doubt it. There’s been no indication that he has the attributes required to play other positions.
 
He should've won this after the way he carried Liverpool almost single handedly to a Premier League title last season

 
RedRocket9908 said:
He should've won this after the way he carried Liverpool almost single handedly to a Premier League title last season

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Considering when it's awarded, does it take into account calendar year? It's a bit hard to argue Salah has been the best player in 2025, he'd gone off the boil well before the end of the season after an extraordinary first few months. Hakimi was also instrumental in PSG's CL win, so it doesn't sound too controversial? (If we're talking from a pure sporting perspective)
 
RedRocket9908 said:
He should've won this after the way he carried Liverpool almost single handedly to a Premier League title last season

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No.....disagree with that. Salah was brilliant for half to two-thirds of a year/season at best, and then tailed off. In the big moments in cup competitions, League Cup final and Champions League, he simply didn't produce.
Is there one example of an outstanding performance he had against a reputable team in Europe this year?
Hakimi has been brilliant this year, the best in the world in his position, and a major factor in why his team won their first CL title and treble.
 
adkb said:
No way is he finished.

He needs to adapt. And the manager should make required changes for him to adapt. Get him a more central role, give him more time on the ball and ask him to pick out runners and trust me he will be lethal.

Same was done to Giggs. And he flourished. Wonder if the manager will make these changes though
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I think the problem is the term “finished”; that’s an absolute. “Declining” is more appropriate. He’s definitely on the way down and last season was his last at his peak.

One of the under discussed tricks in football is selling players at the right time. You want to do whilst they’re still in their pomp, to maximise value, but when there’s not much mileage actually left. Real did it perfectly with Ronaldo, Casemiro and Varane. It what Fergie thought he was doing, but misjudged, with Stam.

Unfortunately for Liverpool (fortunately for us) the ideal scenario would’ve been to sell him to Saudi in the summer but the contract situation ruled that out in terms of cashing in for a fee. Strange, because they’ve (annoyingly) been very good at this previously. Henderson, Fabinho and Mane being good examples.
 
IrwinwasbetterthanCarlos said:
I think the problem is the term “finished”; that’s an absolute. “Declining” is more appropriate. He’s definitely on the way down and last season was his last at his peak.

One of the under discussed tricks in football is selling players at the right time. You want to do whilst they’re still in their pomp, to maximise value, but when there’s not much mileage actually left. Real did it perfectly with Ronaldo, Casemiro and Varane. It what Fergie thought he was doing, but misjudged, with Stam.

Unfortunately for Liverpool (fortunately for us) the ideal scenario would’ve been to sell him to Saudi in the summer but the contract situation ruled that out in terms of cashing in for a fee. Strange, because they’ve (annoyingly) been very good at this previously. Henderson, Fabinho and Mane being good examples.
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Fergie sold Stam because of his book, nothing to do with maximizing value. The fact he eventually brought in Laurent Blanc at 35 years old as his replacement, shows the lack of foresight in that that transaction. Fergie let emotion cloud his judgement on that one, something he has subsequently admitted to in later years,
 
nav_10 said:
No.....disagree with that. Salah was brilliant for half to two-thirds of a year/season at best, and then tailed off. In the big moments in cup competitions, League Cup final and Champions League, he simply didn't produce.
Is there one example of an outstanding performance he had against a reputable team in Europe this year?
Hakimi has been brilliant this year, the best in the world in his position, and a major factor in why his team won their first CL title and treble.
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Has the best goals + assists record.
 
adkb said:
No way is he finished.

He needs to adapt. And the manager should make required changes for him to adapt. Get him a more central role, give him more time on the ball and ask him to pick out runners and trust me he will be lethal.

Same was done to Giggs. And he flourished. Wonder if the manager will make these changes though
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Giggs played in an era where you had time to change outfits, feck your brother's missus and come back until a defender really pressed you, that's why it worked with him in the midfield. Also, there was huge space back then, so cutting passes from the midfield were much more effective.

Salah moving into a central role in today's game is more of an adaptation than Ryan's was. Moving him centrally wouldn't change much, as he'd still need to press. Somehow they need to find a setup in which he plays in that pocket in the corner of the box, which will be obvious a s feck for the opposition.

Age just caught up with him, as it does with everyone.
 
Reckon he will return to form in the second half of the season
 
Rooney in Paris said:
And?
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Clearly he had a very good season even if he dropped in the last 3rd. People go on about how Rashford had a world class season when his season wasn't close to what Salah did, and for a shorter time.
 
poleglass red said:
Fergie sold Stam because of his book, nothing to do with maximizing value. The fact he eventually brought in Laurent Blanc at 35 years old as his replacement, shows the lack of foresight in that that transaction. Fergie let emotion cloud his judgement on that one, something he has subsequently admitted to in later years,
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Official story - Fergie thought he'd dropped a gear
Rumoured story - the book
Scurrilous rumour - we sold him as we knew he had a doping ban coming... bearing in mind we sold him autumn 2021 and the ban was 2022!
 
Hammondo said:
Clearly he had a very good season even if he dropped in the last 3rd. People go on about how Rashford had a world class season when his season wasn't close to what Salah did, and for a shorter time.
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And? What's that got to do with him or with Hakimi winning the award?
 
NotoriousISSY said:
It’s not a criticism, it’s just literally happening. I’m enjoying it more because the hardcore group are absolutely not having it. The same goes for VVD. The best run club in the land handed out fat contracts to two players who absolutely needed their athletic capability to display their clear footballing ability…go figure.
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They'll find a way to sell Salah to the ME. He's pretty marketable.

I think Van Dijk is fine still, he isn't peak VVD but he's still a really good defender.
 
Still think there's plenty of juice left in him. Man takes care of himself, it's obvious and can still pull off moments others in that Liverpool squad can't achieve.
 
Harry190 said:
Still think there's plenty of juice left in him. Man takes care of himself, it's obvious and can still pull off moments others in that Liverpool squad can't achieve.
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Taking care of yourself is one thing. Losing a yard of pace or losing a small percentage of your reaction time due to getting older is another thing all together.

He has declined over the years, but has a purple patch during part of the season which papers over the cracks.
 
Hammondo said:
Just saying it was a fantastic season, could have been better than Hakimi's.
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I understand your point but....

Statistically he produced a better season than Dembele. Would you argue then that he deserved the Ballon D'Or over him?

I just think Premier League apart, he didnt really produce in other competitions.
 
nav_10 said:
I understand your point but....

Statistically he produced a better season than Dembele. Would you argue then that he deserved the Ballon D'Or over him?

I just think Premier League apart, he didnt really produce in other competitions.
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I don't know, he might have.
 
Not that it matters much because anything besides the top 2 is always quite random and PSG players cannibalized each other's votes this year, but Salah actually finished ahead of Hakimi in the Ballon d'Or rankings. I do believe Hakimi's had the most impressive season anyway.

Cannot find any info online on whether this award is based on calendar or seasonal year by the way.
 
I know they're all bad at the moment, but surely he's staying on all the time because he has them by the balls somehow. Hope he gets to see out his 2 years, maybe get a contract extension?
 
I still think giving him the contract was the right decision at the time. Seems like it was the wrong one now.
 
The Salah situation is absolutely insane. He has gone from playing virtually every game to now being on the bench last 3 games. He didn't even come on today. Unless something has gone wrong in the background this is going to get pretty ugly very fast.
 
It's pretty clear perceived discipline/disrespect is probably a reason why he s not playing. Slot may have a more outwardly measured appearance than other disciplinarians but he strikes me as the kind of manager like a Mou or LvG who demand unconditional commitment without questions.
 
Redplane said:
It's pretty clear perceived discipline/disrespect is probably a reason why he s not playing. Slot may have a more outwardly measured appearance than other disciplinarians but he strikes me as the kind of manager like a Mou or LvG who demand unconditional commitment without questions.
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Yeah but he isn't going to take it so easily. I wonder if he wants to leave in January
 
Bald dutch manager under pressure is using the biggest star in his team to send a message that he is the boss and not some shaken insecure twat.

Where have I seen this before?
 
Should have been decreasing his playing time from a position of strength, not start doing it when you are shit. He was poor from February on.

Isolating the clubs biggest star when you can’t buy a win is terribly short sighted.

The likes of Virgil will be jumping at the chance to blame their poor form on Slot too
 
After that interview today....worst attack on own club since Ronaldo. Yeah he will go in january
 
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