Liverpool manager Arne Slot proved that no one player is greater than the club when he decided to bench Mohamed Salah for a string of games in an attempt to improve results.
The Reds legend started on the bench against West Ham, Sunderland, Leeds, and Brighton in successive matches, and did not come off the bench against the Hammers or Leeds.
Salah came on in the first half against Brighton, because of an injury to Joe Gomez, and delivered an assist for Hugo Ekitike in his last match before heading to the African Cup of Nations with Egypt.
The latest on Mo Salah's future at Liverpool
The 33-year-old star cast doubt on his future at Anfield earlier this month when he sensationally claimed that there was no relationship between himself and Slot anymore.
Slot said that he was surprised by the attacker’s comments, but added that the winger has always been “respectful” and that he did not feel that their relationship was broken.
It has since been reported that Richard Hughes is set for talks with Salah’s representatives because the club do not wish to cash in on the forward in January, and would like to plan for him to be in the side in the future.
This suggests that Liverpool want to move on from the situation and that they do not expect the superstar to be sat on the bench for long when he returns from AFCON.
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Whilst Salah may return to the starting line-up when he is back next month, there is a current Liverpool starter who should be dropped from the side.
The Liverpool starter who needs the Mo Salah treatment
Slot must ruthlessly drop Ibrahima Konate from the starting XI because his performances in recent weeks and months have not been good enough.
The France international was beaten too easily in the air for the goal that Wolves scored in the 2-1 win over the Old Gold on Saturday, which was the latest in an, unfortunately, long line of errors this season.
In August, pundit Chris Sutton stated that Konate had an “absolute stinker” against Bournemouth. Jamie Carragher also claimed that he was “all over the place” in November.
Earlier this month, Slot said: “Unfortunately for him (Konate), he does a lot of things well, but he has been a bit too much at the crime scene, that is something I’ve heard people saying before in England.”
Liverpool podcaster and writer Eddie Gibbs also described him as “Liverpool’s most alarming fault line” who “looks like a footballer fighting his own reflection” last month, and it is hard to disagree with all of these assessments when you look at his statistics for the season.
Konate (25/26)
Premier League
Champions League
Appearances
18
6
Dribbled past
5x
1x
Error led to shot
3
1
Error led to goal
0
1
Penalties committed
1
0
Fouls committed
22
6
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the France international has already made six errors that have led to shots, goals, or penalties in the Premier League and the Champions League this season.
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Konate only made five such errors in the entirety of the 2024/25 campaign in those two competitions, per Sofascore, which shows that the central defender has regressed this term.
The 26-year-old flop, whose poor defending against Leeds was analysed by Carragher earlier this month in the clip above, has been far too error-prone alongside Virgil van Dijk at the back for the Reds.
That is why Slot must replicate his Salah decision with Konate by dropping him from the sides for a run of matches, whether that is by signing a new centre-back in January or by playing another player at the back, such as Andy Robertson or Conor Bradley.
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Given the criticism from fans, pundits, and former pros alike, Konate seems to be the weak link in Liverpool’s side at the moment, which is why the manager must find a way to replace him in the starting line-up in the weeks to come.