Forget Mo Salah, Ally McCoist says Liverpool have two ‘vital’ players far more important

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Ally McCoist has claimed that Mohamed Salah is the third most important player at Liverpool.

The Egyptian has been out of form compared to his usual exceptional standards this season, and the sharp decline has not gone unnoticed.

Arne Slot made the shocking decision to drop the forward to the bench for the 1-0 loss against Galatasaray in the Champions League.

Victor Osimhen’s 16th-minute penalty was all that separated the sides in Istanbul, as the same problems that have plagued the Reds all season have led to a second consecutive defeat in all competitions.

And while Salah almost single-handedly carried his teammates to the Premier League title last term, two other stars have been deemed more important to the club.

Liverpool would struggle without Virgil van Dijk and Alisson

When discussing the result live on talkSPORT, co-host Ally McCoist claimed that Virgil van Dijk and Alisson are more vital to the Reds’ success than Salah.

“That’s a blow, mate, I’ll tell you now that is a blow. I think he’s the best keeper out of the lot of them. I think the goalkeeper and Van Dijk are the two really key players they can’t do without.

“Obviously, Salah is out of this world, I get that, but I just think about how important they are defensively, the goalkeeper and Van Dijk are vital for them.”

Alisson was forced off at RAMS Park with a minor injury just before the hour mark and replaced by Giorgi Mamardashvili. Slot has confirmed that the Brazilian will miss the trip to Chelsea on Saturday.

Alongside van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate produced another woeful display against Galatasaray, and the Frenchman is becoming a serious problem for Liverpool.

Konate was bullied by Jean-Philippe Mateta during the loss to Crystal Palace, and the Frenchman’s place in the starting line-up is expected to come under threat, despite the season-ending injury suffered by summer signing Giovanni Leoni.

Alisson made eight saves in his last two outings to keep the scoreline respectable, whereas Virgil van Dijk’s 92nd-minute winning goal against Atletico Madrid rescued the three points for Liverpool.

The pair have emerged as the only players among the Reds’ backline to maintain the standards set by last season’s Premier League triumph, while the rest of the ensemble have massively underwhelmed.

Ally McCoist believes Liverpool are missing Trent Alexander-Arnold

Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley have both failed to lay down a serious marker to become the undisputed starting right-back at Anfield.

Dominik Szoboszlai looks the most competent in the position thus far, despite naturally playing in central midfield, and McCoist believes one of the main problems for Slot is that the side are missing Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“I’m just wondering now, right, I’m just wondering: with all the talent they’ve brought in—and they brought in talent—I think, you know, I think Jamie makes a good point there: defensively, Kerkez hasn’t really got going yet. Frimpong’s a good player, but I mean, Trent going forward was as good as, if not one of the best. Sometimes you get someone so good going forward and on set pieces, corners, free kicks…

“Instead of us talking about his qualities, which we did to a certain degree, probably a lot of the time we focused on the things he wasn’t brilliant at. But my point I’m trying to make is, you look at versus all of them – he wasn’t bad!”