Jurgen Klopp explains why Mohamed Salah is 'suffering' this season
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confessed that forward Mohamed Salah has been unsettled by the changes to the club's forward line this season.
The Reds sold Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich during the summer, replacing the Senegal international with Darwin Nunez, while Cody Gakpo also joined from PSV Eindhoven this summer to help cope with injuries to Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz.
Salah, who racked up 23 goals and 14 assists last season, is yet to showcase his best form this time around, having found the back of the net just seven times across the first half of the campaign, and Klopp admitted that the collapse of Liverpool's famous front three - Salah, Firmino and Mane - had taken its toll on the Egyptian.
"Oh yes, of course he is suffering," Klopp said. "It was a well-drilled machine the front three, everything was clear what we were doing.
"It is specific, offensive play that requires a lot of work and lot of information, and not always obvious information. You create a feeling about a lot of these things, about where your team-mate is and where to pass the ball without looking. That is not cool but we cannot expect just to be back to our best and win 5-0 and go to the next game. We have to work hard. Nobody wants to hear it but we have to do it."
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The arrival of Gakpo has added a new dynamic to Liverpool's attack, albeit one which is yet to fully show itself, but Klopp again pointed to the lack of rhythm across his entire forward line to explain the Dutchman's early struggles.
"Now we have Cody as a really important asset, like a connector, he can play the wing and the centre as well," said the boss.
"When Darwin is playing there he is obviously more high up, going in behind. We never played with a nine before, even when Sadio played in the position he was dropping in moments.
"It is all good if they would all be in and we could build something, but we haven't been able to do that yet."