It's time for Mohamed Salah to FOLLOW Lionel Messi

The past few games haven’t gone well for Liverpool, nor Mohamed Salah on a personal level. The Egyptian King is of course still on track for a record-breaking season, let’s not forget that.

But in the matches against Paris Saint-Germain - especially away - and Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final, Salah has been posted missing.

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He got no goal contributions against PSG, comfortably outmuscled by Nuno Mendes across the two legs as Liverpool slipped out of Europe. The 32-year-old was anonymous against the Magpies at Wembley too, going long stretches without so much as a touch of the ball.

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And while his numbers stack up this season there is no doubt that his record has been embellished since the start of March thanks to rattling in a couple of penalties against Southampton.

Salah in truth has struggled for involvement over Liverpool’s most recent games. The number of goals and assists he has pumped out helps mask that fact. But when he cannot score or create, Liverpool are left with a creative mountain to climb.

There isn’t the same quality or consistency across the Reds’ front line with Luis Diaz notoriously streaky and Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota very much falling into the unreliable category.

And Liverpool don’t get sufficient goals from the other areas of the team; the midfielders don’t get enough either and their failings from corners have been well-documented too.

If teams can shackle Salah on the wing - by isolating him, by man-marking or with two vs ones, then Arne Slot’s team run down blind alleys.

Can Salah emulate Messi?

Salah’s key strengths - his finishing, his deft body swerves and swivels, his playmaking - no doubt serve Liverpool well. But if he’s isolated in matches then those skills are wasted.

What if there’s a lesson in all of this for Slot from Lionel Messi?

Messi initially emerged as a winger, cutting inside - like Salah - and finding the corner. Then Pep Guardiola evolved his game somewhat, placing him in the centre of the pitch to orchestrate and act as a so-called “false nine”.

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He was restored to the Barcelona wing under Luis Enrique - as part of the all-conquering MSN trident - but underwent another change later in his Barca career.

Under Ronald Koeman in his final season at the club, Messi was fielded more centrally; not responsible for providing width in the Barca attack because a wing-back like Serginho Dest or Sergi Roberto took care of the flank.

Messi was permitted to play in-field, and he was rewarded with a Spanish top scorer award.

A more central role for Salah?

These last few games have been tough on Salah from a contract standpoint. If he was attempting to prove the point that he could make the difference in the biggest games then he’s failed against PSG and Newcastle.

It’s clear he wants to stay at the club long-term, should a deal be done, and he’s also demonstrated that Slot NEEDS his goals and assists.

Maybe it’s time to consider a more central - a less peripheral role - for Salah in order to augment his influence in the team. He could well become like a later-career Messi, cajoling and pulling the strings in a slightly more central area.

No doubt it would be better for everyone if Salah could get on the ball more and use his quality. The last couple of weeks have shown that he’s fallible and opposition teams can be encouraged to shut him down.

It’s been proven that he can be locked out of the game for long portions, starving Liverpool of meaningful attacks and danger in the final third.

Touches against PSG away? 41. Against Newcastle? 23. If this trend continues then Liverpool are going to suffer an alarming drop in output.

Slot could - perhaps - rip up his current game plan and use a Conor Bradley-like figure wide on the right, leaving the space clear for a front two including Salah. He could even opt for a Ruben Amorim-esque 3-4-3 with Salah in behind an orthodox frontman as a No10.

Salah has played centrally before - during his early Liverpool career under Jurgen Klopp - while the likes of James Milner, Adam Lallana, Xherdan Shaqiri, Harvey Elliott or else Sadio Mane were fitted in on the right.

The results were devastating; Salah scored 34 goals from 42 games when named up front. He's probably a better player now than he was then - with improved playmaking characteristics.

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These are possibilities that Slot could consider as Salah comes to terms with being marked out of matches. It requires a little bit of imagination but could hint at a future where Salah continues to flourish.

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