Liverpool star Mohamed Salah could do with a kick to get him back into gear, says former Reds midfielder Danny Murphy.
The pundit believes complacency may have crept into the Liverpool squad, as he singled out the likes of Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold as key culprits in the team’s poor start to the season.
Salah has been a joy to watch for the last few years, playing a starring role in much of Liverpool’s success, though there’s no doubt he’s struggled to maintain that in more recent times.
Murphy feels the Egypt international needs a kick, while the likes of Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold are perhaps also a little too safe in Jurgen Klopp’s line up, with not quite enough to motivate them to give it their all and keep their place.
Discussing Liverpool’s struggles on talkSPORT, Murphy said: “Salah’s another one, Salah needs a kick.
“It’s nothing to do with the contract he signed but sometimes you need it. When you’ve scored that many goals and do what he’s done sometimes you just need upstairs to say ‘come on.’
“If it means digging someone out in front of the rest of the lads, I’ve seen it before, the best midfielder Liverpool have ever had in history [Steven Gerrard]. I remember seeing at half time in a Champions League game being told to get a shower. Nobody saw that coming!”
He added: “We’ve got to be careful to not go too overboard on this but my feeling is there’s an air of complacency among some of the players.
. @StanCollymore on if Klopp should move TAA into #LFC midfield ??
"You don't throw the baby out with the bath water…" ?
"A guy that gives you 99% of excellent stuff so let's hammer him for the 1% he can't do well on the basis that actually the problem is the midfield." ? pic.twitter.com/8C2mErhbtG
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) September 12, 2022
“They’ve fallen into what some managers call a ‘comfort zone’. Of course they go out with good intentions but when you know you’re going to play nearly every game… I think that can cause complacency at times.
“When I talk about complacency I aim it at him [Van Dijk] a lot, as well as Trent Alexander-Arnold and some of the other lads are but I think he’s guilty of it.
“There’s a little bit of lethargy about his play, like he’s playing in third gear.”
LFC are back in action in the Champions League tonight, taking on Ajax at Anfield after a surprise 4-1 thrashing by Napoli last week.