If a fan of Liverpool doubted how much their team Mohamed Salah would miss if he did not sign a new contract this summer, they must keep an eye on the final of the Carabao Cup.
Without their most important gear, the Arne Slot Machine worked defect and some more.
The joke here is that Salah naturally played. But his anonymous version emphasized how much they trust on their Talisman to come up with the big moments in the biggest games.
He was effectively canceled and with the Egyptian who used a rare shock of a display, the attack by Liverpool looked toothless. No Salah, no party. To somewhat reformulate a banner in the head if they don't pay the dough, who is then to dismiss the bow?
It would be a great overreaction to blame only the disappointment about Salah and to notice his record-breaking season.
But most of the bumps that Liverpool threw in Newcastle were weak and thrown away. It was only in the stopping time that the Premier League Champions-Elect caused any real Geordie anxiety caused at least on the field. Too little, too late.
In 43 games this season, Salah was involved in a stunning 54 goals – 32 scored by himself and 22 assists. This means that the 32-year-old is responsible for 51 percent of the total goals that this period scored by Arne Slot's men.
The other five attackers – Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Federico Chiesa – have scored 46 in between. Hardly any meager figures, but if Salah doesn't shoot, who is to take a game at the neck of his neck and to tilt a tight match in favor of Liverpool?
Diaz has scored one goal in his last 19 games; Nunez one in 13; Jota has not scored since mid -January. All have been arm and Gakpo was injured. Certainly, the goal scorer of Sunday Chiesa, and perhaps energetic midfielder Harvey Elliott, will soon earn a run in the starting team?
The point is that the goals are not evenly shared in the entire team. If Salah has a bad day, Liverpool as a whole usually has a bad day, except for a few orphan greeting Mary's of the replacements in the dying Sintels of Games.
Compare this with the great team of Jurgen Klopp. If Salah did not show up, there was Sadio Mane, who scored only one less than his Egyptian colleague in the title-winning campaign 2019-20, whether Roberto Firmino De Lijn led in a creative sense with 12 goals and 13 assists.
That year the entire back of Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson made 27 assists between them and that statistics is only eight this term. Under Arne Slot there is another playing style, certainly, but it is another supporting factor of the theory that Salah lacks creativity.
And every Reds fan who thinks they will be fine if Alexander-Arnold leaves this summer in the midst of an offer from Real Madrid, should be thinking again. The creativity of the wounded star and unorthodox pass from Deep were very missed.
All starting front three had a terrible day, but the service did not exist. Only when Elliott, Curtis Jones and Chiesa came up that Liverpool began to seriously threaten.
The midfield unit of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai all deserve attention to the Premier League team of the season, but they looked for the last fourteen days. Has Slot been too loyal to his familiar trio?
Given the record of Salah this season, it feels hard to respond exaggerated, but he is not exempt from criticism. In the largest week of the Liverpool season, the chief is staggering and his balloon d'Or hopes to have taken an important hit.
The timing cannot be worse, but perhaps there is a cause-effect relationship here, since this was his 11th final for Liverpool and his record in that is only two goals and one assist. He also tasted the defeat in the final of two Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
It is clear that the opponents are more difficult in the final, so there is that warning, plus the fact that he was injured in the 2018 Champions League final and 2022 FA Cup final.
And not every superstar shines when the stage is the brightest, because every Arsenal fan should admit about Thierry Henry, who scored 228 goals for the Gunners but none in the final.
But the statistics are still alarming. During his career in Liverpool, Salah helped on average one goal or every match, but in the final that falls to 0.3 per 90 minutes.
For the first time in his eight years at the club, the Egyptian did not succeed in a shot on goal or he created a chance in a match in which he completed 90 minutes. Talk about choosing your moments, Mo!
Salah is 33 in three months and, whether he signs a new deal or not, Liverpool knows that they cannot trust him forever. The forward line must be refreshed this summer, with all five Salah's attacking colleagues guilty of inconsistency and being susceptible to injury.
They say that you learn more in times of hardships and Slot may have taken more lessons from this challenging week than the last few months that his team has been in Easy Street.
The boss left Wembley in casual equipment and will now have a week of rest with his family, because the next Liverpool match is only 2 April against Everton. He now knows the strengths and limitations of his team as the back of his hand.
But after the bruising week, Captain Virgil van Dijk insisted on his teammates to enjoy their time away from the club and to come back completely to winning the Premier League.
Liverpool needs 16 points of the 27 who are left to play to guarantee the title, although in reality it can be less, unless Arsenal wins any remaining game in one way or another.
“We have to turn this around,” Van Dijk said. 'It's how football works … In five days you lose twice and the world sinks and two weeks before everything was sunshine and rainbows everywhere.
'We just have to keep doing the same things, the good things we have done all season. There is a lot at the game, good things, so many positive and good things to look forward to. We play for the Premier League, the most difficult price to get.
'We will go for it and let's see what it entails. You have to be confident and enjoy the last nine games. It is clear that everyone must be disappointed by not winning the cup, but there is a title to win.
'We all have to realize that the work has not been done for what we have. We have to work for our A *** and everyone has to realize that. '
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