Alan Shearer has criticised Mohamed Salah for his ‘unacceptable’ attempts to press from the front for Liverpool against Brighton and Hove Albion.
Liverpool hosted Brighton on Saturday and will have been hoping to kickstart their season following the international break.
The Reds have been disappointing so far this term and it was more of the same against the Seagulls.
Leandro Trossard had Brighton 2-0 up in the first half before a Roberto Firmino brace and an own goal from Adam Webster turned the game on its head.
Liverpool couldn’t see out a 3-2 win though as Trossard popped up to complete his hat-trick, securing a 3-3 draw for new boss Roberto De Zerbi.
Alan Shearer has criticised Mohamed Salah
Liverpool look so off colour this season it’s starting to feel like we’re seeing the Monsters from Space Jam steal the powers of Jurgen Klopp’s star men.
The energy we usually expect from Liverpool just hasn’t been there and the Reds just can’t find a spark to generate consistent results.
Some have suggested that Liverpool players are simply worn out after years of playing Klopp’s high-intensity approach.
Liverpool’s pressing certainly hasn’t been at the level you would expect and star winger Salah has now received criticism for his role in that.
Pundit Alan Shearer analysed Liverpool’s lack of energy and drew attention to Salah.
Speaking on Match of the Day, Shearer highlighted two moments where Salah was slow to press Brighton defender Webster.
Webster was able to easily ghost past Salah and get Brighton going forward; the first instance resulted in Alisson making a close-range save and the second ended with Trossard scoring for 3-3.
Shearer slammed Salah for offering ‘nothing’ in Liverpool’s press, suggesting he’d be better off staying in shape rather than offer a half-hearted press.
Shearer added that Salah’s pressing was ‘not acceptable’ and he must do better moving forward.
“The press I said from the front, that’s nothing from Salah,” said Shearer. “There’s no point him even going if that’s going to be his effort to close people down and stop it.”
“Similar thing again, that again from Salah – that’s not acceptable in that Liverpool shirt, he needs to be better,” he added.
It’s frustrating enough that Salah hasn’t really been at his best on the ball this season but when his off-ball work is also being criticised, you know things are bad for Liverpool.
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