With the Africa Cup of Nations approaching, Liverpool will be forced to plough on without Mo Salah, a proposition with which they may soon have to deal on a permanent basis.
Let’s start off by busting a myth; Salah is not ‘lazy’ defensively. If that were the case, he would have been nowhere near Jurgen Klopp‘s side for seven years.
However, it is true to say that he has been allowed to not track back as deep as his teammates in order to maximise his attacking output.
Due to the changing nature of this Liverpool team, we are perhaps approaching a period in which we can no longer afford the Egyptian that luxury.
For the Reds’ trip to West Ham, Salah began a Premier League match on the bench for the first time since April 2024, coincidentally also at the London Stadium.
Whether he was dropped or rested is up for debate. Arne Slot said his absence was down to Liverpool playing “four games in 10 days,” but a combination of both is most likely.
Whatever the case, the 2-0 win at West Ham could have provided a blueprint for how Liverpool could play without Salah while he is at AFCON and, potentially, once he has finished at Anfield for good.
This was Florian Wirtz’s best Liverpool performance
Liverpool’s win at West Ham will be remembered for two things: Alexander Isak‘s first league goal and Florian Wirtz‘s performance.
It has been well documented how the pair, signed for over a combined £141 million in the summer, haven’t hit the ground running.
Sunday provided a glimpse of the future, though, as Wirtz dictated play and Isak delivered in the pivotal moment to secure a win.
Before the weekend, Wirtz had completed just three passes to Isak in the league this season – an astonishing stat.
They linked up more than three times in the first half alone in east London, and while the latter still felt isolated and rusty at times, Wirtz was at the centre of everything good.
This must have been the vision Slot sold him in his pitch to join the club.
Is Dominik Szoboszlai the antidote?
In possession, Liverpool lined up playing 4-2-3-1 with the attacking quartet flexible and able to switch places to disrupt the defenders.
More often than not, Wirtz featured centrally, but it wasn’t the first time he had played as the No. 10 this season.
However, it was the first occaasion he had played in attacking midfield with Dominik Szoboszlai to his right, where Salah would usually roam.
As has so often been the case this season, the Hungarian was sacrificed from his best central midfield role to facilitate others.
Szoboszlai provides far more protective cover than Salah, and with Joe Gomez behind at right-back, Liverpool suddenly felt far more difficult to play through.
Against PSV, Salah was dribbled past twice and made one tackle, whereas Szoboszlai made two tackles and was dribbled past on zero occasions against West Ham.
While the Reds played 4-2-3-1 on paper, the formation turned into more of a 4-3-3 when off the ball, Szoboszlai usually the forward player to drop deep.
Combine those factors with a hard-working performance from Cody Gakpo up and down the left, plus Ibrahima Konate not gifting the opposition a goal, then you get a clean sheet.
A reminder of what made Liverpool great last year
While it has to be taken into account that West Ham‘s attack was nowhere near as mobile as others Liverpool have faced this season, the Reds were very much improved as a team.
Some of Liverpool’s recurring issues still exist: Wirtz does still need to adapt to the Premier League‘s pace and physicality, Slot does need to find a way to get Isak at least slightly more involved.
However, this felt like the outline of the coach’s grand plan for the Reds.
We have said this season that Slot needs to make concessions to his attacking nature. Sacrificing some flare on the flanks may help solve the problems of the Reds being easy to play through.
When Slot arrived at Liverpool, many credited his success with taking Klopp’s team and adding some extra defensive stability. Hopefully, the win over West Ham reminded him of that.
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