Liverpool told by club legend that Salah ‘needed a rest’ before Napoli debacle – ‘it’s very important’ | OneFootball

Liverpool have been told that Mohamed Salah “needed a rest” before their heavy defeat against Napoli earlier this week in the Champions League.

Salah enjoyed a sensational start to the 2021/22 campaign, though his form declined somewhat as the season went on.

He penned a new big-money contract during the summer to put an end to reports suggesting that he could see out his deal that was initially due to expire in 2023.

His new contract expires in 2025 and he would have wanted to make a better start to this campaign both individually and as a team.

Salah is without a goal in four games across all competitions, which is out of character given the lofty standards he has set in the past.

He was in the Liverpool team that suffered a disappointing 4-1 loss against Serie A side Napoli in their Champions League opener.

John Barnes stated after this result that Salah “will come good” as he explained the reasons behind the attacker’s struggles:

“[Salah] hasn’t scored as many goals as he’d like but he’s also getting used to a new system,” Barnes told BonusCodeBets.

“The way that Nunez plays is different to the way Firmino and Mane play. Players have to get used to that system.

“So, it’s not as simple as, if you look at Erling Haaland, for example, coming in and being the focal point to score all the goals. Liverpool, as much as Salah scores a lot of goals, a lot of it has to do with the way the front three play.

“And of course, the front three with Nunez is going to play slightly different so that’s going to take some getting used to, as it did for (playing with) Mane and (for playing with) Luis Diaz.

“So yeah, he hasn’t started as well as he would have liked but I’m sure he will come good. Of course I see him improving. Salah is a fantastic player.”

Club legend Luis Garcia has now suggested that Salah “needed a rest” ahead of the Napoli clash:

“You can see and I’m sure that Mo Salah knows himself very well, you can see that he’s not beating players one-v-one,” Garcia told ESPN FC.

“He’s not running into the box, he’s far away from the box, too wide at times. He’s not close to the box where he’s very dangerous.

“I think that Mo Salah needed a rest (against Napoli). It’s very important that the players understand that it’s very difficult to play 63, 70 games that they played last year.

“There are going to be rotations because there’s a World Cup in between and some players are going to need a rest.”