Jurgen Klopp made five changes to Liverpool’s lineup for their match against Fulham, with Mohamed Salah beginning the game on the bench after his side’s victory over Atalanta in the Europa League.
Jamie Carragher is of the opinion that Jurgen Klopp made the right call in dropping Mohamed Salah from the Liverpool starting lineup. According to Carragher, the winger has not displayed the necessary form to justify his place in the Reds’ starting XI.
Salah found himself on the bench during Liverpool’s match against Fulham at Craven Cottage, with Klopp opting for several changes in the Premier League encounter.
The German manager chose to start Diogo Jota, Jarell Quansah, Wataru Endo, Ryan Gravenberch, and Harvey Elliott, while Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, and Curtis Jones were also omitted alongside Salah.
Former Liverpool defender Carragher pointed out that Klopp’s decision to rest players is influenced by the team’s hectic schedule. However, he raised concerns about the timing of Salah’s omission, particularly with Liverpool aiming to stay competitive in the Premier League title race.
As a pundit for Sky Sports, Carragher indicated that benching Salah was a straightforward decision.
He agreed that injecting freshness into the team was necessary and suggested that Salah could potentially make a bigger impact coming off the bench as a substitute.
“Yes, on the back of Thursday,” said Carragher. “There can be a debate about what team he should have played Thursday on the back of them losing three-nil.
“Was this game more important? There’s no doubt this is a weakened team. In terms of rest, there are three big away games, so I get it, he had to make changes with another three away games coming in six days.
“When you look at some of the players who have been left out you might look at Mo Salah. Mo Salah is not an issue with tiredness because he stayed here during the international break, he’s been injured in the middle of the season, and he’s not playing well enough at the moment.
“It might be the case he’ll be better and sharper from the bench. I understand Mac Allister, he’s played an awful lot of football and it was always going to be difficult to play four games in 10 days away from home.”
Klopp revealed ahead of the game that he was taking advantage of making use of a full squad that has rarely been available. “We play three super important games in six days,” he explained. “I hate thinking about the game after the one in front of us but, in our situation, we cannot ignore the fact.
“We have to make changes to get fresh legs in, to use the squad. It’s the best situation we’ve had squad-wise all year, that’s why we do it.
“We need them all, they will either start or come on, that’s the situation and I don’t know what’s more important, to be honest, both are super important. We need to be here 100 per cent for 95 minutes and we need them all.”
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