By Abdullah Mamaniyat

Before Sunday’s 2-0 win against West Ham, the last time Mohamed Salah started a Premier League game from the bench was in April 2024. On that day, a late equaliser from Michail Antonio in a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium all but ended Liverpool’s hopes for a league title in Jürgen Klopp's final season at the club.

The match was overshadowed by an awkward altercation between Salah and Klopp just moments before the Egyptian was substituted on. The incident further fuelled the speculation around Salah’s potential departure, who at the time had not yet extended his contract past 2025. A move to Saudi Arabia felt inevitable, but the Egyptian did extend his stay in Merseyside.

Fast forward 19 months, and the moment has come full circle against West Ham, but this time forcibly so. Arne Slot chose to bench Salah, under public pressure to do so and see if it changed the club’s fortunes. Slot cited fixture congestion as his rationale:

"Mo has had an unbelievable career and will have a very good future at this club because he's such a special player. But when you have four games in 10 days then you have to decide once in a while on a certain lineup."

Main Man No More?

Credits - Liverpool Echo

For years, Salah has been the main man at Anfield, playing super-human at times with the capacity of multiple players in one. With power came great responsibility, bearing the weight of the club’s expectation which won them multiple major silverwares during a highly successful period for the club with him there.

For Salah, his excuses for sub-par performances can be answered through Christian Perri’s lyrics of ‘But I’m only human’. Time waits for no man, and at the age of 33 it is quite normal to see levels of drop-off. Had it been gradual, it may not have stuck out like a sore thumb. Salah tallied 29 goals last season, so his 4 goals in 4 months are strikingly low for a player who has consistently showed up season after season.

While ‘healthy competition’ or the fixture list can be offered a convenient cover, Slot is also managing a player whose ego must be managed to prioritise the player short-term, but the team’s balance when life without him begins.

With Salah due to depart for the African Cup of Nations later this month, Slot now has a timely luxury. Without the immediate media pressure surrounding Salah's exclusion, the under-pressure manager has a handful of crucial games to experiment and find his best starting XI without the team's talisman.

Snapping The Losing Streak.

Credits - Liverpool Echo

For Fantasy Premier League managers, Sunday's benching was a disaster, but for the wider Liverpool fanbase, it was met with a sigh of relief. The bar for performance was desperately low, given that the team had lost a staggering 9 times in their last 12 games across all competitions, including three consecutive Premier League defeats. The weekend victory was secured against a struggling West Ham side who have conceded 27 goals so far in 2025/26, the joint second highest in the league only after Wolves. Therefore, any victory can only be taken with a pinch of salt.

However, the win ushered in a sneak peek of life without Salah, whether that be over the next few weeks or next season. Alexander Isak broke his drought with his first Premier League goal for Liverpool since his summer move from Newcastle. Cody Gakpo sealed the win in stoppage time with a much-needed confidence booster for him.

Florian Wirtz, who has struggled domestically had his best game in the number 10 role since his arrival. The setup saw Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been used as a utility man for much of this season, move to the right wing. Joe Gomez returning and the familiar midfield partnership of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister providing a stable base.

"We have to find a way to play without him because he won't be here."

Slot said. This was meant in the context of Salah’s AFCON absence, but his time with Egypt may spell the end of his time as a nailed starter for the Reds.

It will be quite the unfamiliar pill for the King to swallow.