January 28, (THEWILL) – Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, has admitted that forward Mohamed Salah, is struggling with the changes to the team’s forward line this season.
The Reds sold Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich during the summer, replacing him with Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo. Salah, who scored 23 goals and 14 assists last season, is yet to reach his best form this campaign, having scored just seven times in the first half of the season.
Klopp explained that the collapse of Liverpool’s famous front three – Salah, Firmino and Mane – has taken its toll on the Egyptian. “Of course, he is suffering,” Klopp said. “It was a well-drilled machine, the front three, everything was clear what we were doing.” He added that the specific offensive play requires a lot of work and information and that the team needs to work hard to regain its rhythm.
The arrival of Gakpo has added a new dynamic to Liverpool’s attack, but Klopp pointed out that the lack of rhythm across the entire forward line has made it difficult for the Dutchman to fully show his potential. “Now we have Cody as a really important asset, like a connector, he can play the wing and the centre as well,” said Klopp.
“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.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
