Paul Scholes reckons ‘brilliant’ Liverpool man always does ‘some of the worst stuff on a football pitch’

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Liverpool have lost their last three games in a row in all competitions to put a total end to their strong start to the season, knocking them off of top spot in the Premier League table.

The Reds began with seven wins from seven in all competitions, winning their first five Premier League games as well as their opening fixtures in the Carabao Cup and the Champions League.

It saw Arne Slot’s side coined as the ‘team to beat’ if anyone was going to win accolades in the domestic calendar, with their stars continuing to shine.

But Liverpool then suffered a late loss to Crystal Palace, before defeats to Galatasaray and Chelsea have seen them squirm, and they are no longer top of the Premier League table.

And one man has failed to produce the goods from open play this season in Mohamed Salah, with Manchester United legend Paul Scholes airing doubts over his performances.

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Paul Scholes thinks Mohamed Salah has been ‘off the boil’ for Liverpool this season

Salah began last season in fine form, with six goal contributions in his first three Premier League games, before going on a run of nine goals in just seven top-flight outings from late October through to early December.

Ending the campaign with an incredible 57 goal contributions for the Merseyside club, former Chelsea star Salah placed fourth in the Ballon d’Or rankings.

However, this season, he’s fallen quite flat so far.

A late clincher against Bournemouth on the opening day of the campaign and a last-gasp penalty to beat newly-promoted Burnley remain his only goals in the league, as well as assists against Newcastle United and Everton.

It’s been a notable drop off from his electric form last season. But according to United icon Scholes, the Anfield hero is now ‘completely off the boil’ by making awful decisions – and in his mind, Salah has always done ‘some of the worst stuff on a football pitch’.

Speaking on ‘The Good, The Bad and The Football’, Scholes said of the Egyptian: “He’s still playing in the same position – he just seems to be making the wrong decisions.

“Yeah, more often than not. There are a couple of times… if you remember last year, look, he scored loads of goals, but a lot of the time he was cutting in from that right-hand side onto his left foot and playing some great balls into people to just tap in.

“There were a couple of instances on Saturday – he’s cutting inside and ballooning the ball over the bar. Last year, those were going in the top corner. When he came inside on that left foot, you thought, ‘he’s hitting that top corner.'”

“He had three or four like that, and he’s hitting them 20, 30 feet over, and you’re thinking, ‘he’s just off the boil.’ That’s what I think.

“He’s one of them, though – every time you watch him, even when he’s been brilliant, he does some of the worst stuff on a football pitch, you know what I mean? Like, it’ll bounce off his leg or his knee, he’ll miscontrol it – and then all of a sudden he’ll do something that makes him look like the best player in the world at that moment. He’s just struggling to find those best bits right now.”

Liverpool do need a positive result to get themselves out of their rut, and the international break will at least offer Salah the chance to recuperate before hitting the Premier League head-on later in the month.

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Mohamed Salah may be off the boil for Liverpool but he’s in a league of his own in Premier League history

Salah does sometimes cut a frustrating figure to watch.

It’s hard to compare him to other Premier League wing greats such as Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo or Eden Hazard in terms of his elegance and technique when dribbling, even if he does rack up assists year in, year out.

What the Egyptian does boast, however, is an ability to get the job done. He seemingly always finds a way to get the job done, owing to his elite mentality and never-say-die attitude.

That longevity will stand him in good stead, and his numbers are up there with some of the best in the league’s history – even being the top goalscoring winger since the Premier League started in 1992, only ranking behind Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Alan Shearer.