Slot’s new-look Liverpool line-up could spell the end for Salah – and Florian Wirtz is the BIG winner

It’s starting to look very much like the beginning of the end for Mo Salah at Liverpool after Arne Slot launched his bold new 4-2-2-2 line-up on Wednesday night – and while Florian Wirtz looks the major beneficiary of the tactical switch, a new injury update suggests the Egyptian could earn an immediate reprieve.

The Reds went into Wednesday’s clash at Eintracht Frankfurt seeking a morale-boosting win and avoiding a defeat that would have spelt a 72-year low of five successive losses for the first time since 1953. After falling behind to a Rasmus Kristensen goal early on, Liverpool could have been in danger of letting their heads drop…

Instead, the new-look formation decided enough was enough and, taking the game by the scruff of the neck, they hit back to score five unanswered goals and carve out a much-needed victory to silence their critics.

With Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak partnering one another in a more traditional two-man strike partnership, Wirtz was selected as one of two players, alongside Dominik Szoboszlai, just behind.

Giving freedom to roam and probe, often down the right, Wirtz finally claimed his first two assists in competitive football for the Reds, ending a 10-game stretch without a goal involvement.

But while the media has marvelled over Wirtz’s display, calling him ‘an artist’ and amid several 8/10 ratings, the benching of Salah – way off his best in recent weeks – suggests the beginning of the end for the Egyptian.

Salah did step off the bench after 74 minutes at the Deutsche Bank Park, but he was guilty of failing to square the ball to Wirtz and denying him a first goal in Liverpool colours and with the decision to shoot instead drawing widespread criticism.

Should Slot persist with the 4-2-2-2 formation, it’s difficult to see where the Egyptian fits in.

And while an injury to Isak – more on that later – may yet open the door for a return to their more regularly seen 4-3-3, several pundits and players have expressed their verdicts on Salah and Wirtz’s contrasting fortunes…

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What the pundits are saying about Florian Wirtz

Analysing his two assists, Jamie Carragher is adamant there is more to come from the German, who flourished in the new-look system.

“The big thing really was Florian Wirtz getting his first assist. There will be more assists to come and better assists than that,” Carragher told CBS.

“Yeah, it’s nice for Wirtz, what he was brought in to do was to create goals and score goals and the only disappointment was that he never scored tonight, and he should have scored if Mo Salah passed to him at the end of the game, which he should have done.”

Ally McCoist added in co-commentary for TNT Sports: “It’s really interesting watching Wirtz when Liverpool are in possession.

“We mentioned Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai are the two that are sitting, Wirtz is trying to pick up those spaces just short of Isak and Ekitike, he prowls that area of 10, 15 yards trying to take it on the half-turn.”

The German media were also wowed by Wirtz’s display.

Suddeutsche Zeitung said: “Amidst a tough few weeks of sporting activity, Florian Wirtz once again shows flashes of genius and joy. After the final whistle in Frankfurt, he’s practically overwhelmed.

“After a subdued first half, the football star turned on the heat after the break. It was clearly noticeable that a weight had been lifted from the German football hopeful. While Wirtz appeared monotonous and almost bored in the pre-match interview, a smile or two flitted across his face afterwards.”

SportBild stated: “His return to the German football stage in Frankfurt had been eagerly awaited – and Wirtz didn’t disappoint. After a subdued first half, the attacking star showed why Liverpool had paid over 100million euros for him in the summer.

“For Liverpool, it was their 15th consecutive victory against a German team – the Reds have been unbeaten against Bundesliga clubs for 23 years. Wirtz played a part in that.”

Spiegel Sport wrote: “The Gordian knot has been untied: ‘I’m happy to be back in Germany,’ Wirtz said before the match. Liverpool’s €150million signing was presumably hoping to build on better times at home and finally record his first goal involvement in a Reds jersey.

“And in the second half, that certainly happened: First, Wirtz set up Gakpo’s 4-1 goal (66′) with a cross from the right, and the former Leverkusen player was also the last to touch the ball before Szoboszlai’s long-range shot to make it 5-1.”

And finally, BILD said: “Wirtz, a man worth €140million, also shines, setting up goals for Gakpo (4-1) and Szoboszlai (5-1) in just four minutes. His first goal involvement in a Liverpool shirt in more than two months.”

Curtis Jones, meanwhile, speaking to LFCTV after the game, thinks this is just the start of big things for Wirtz.

“I say all the time on Flo, he’s one of those lads that if you don’t think he’s good, you don’t understand the game,” the midfielder, who started the game in Frankfurt ahead of Alexis Mac Allister, said.

“Obviously, he’s been bought for a huge price tag, that’s not his fault, and everybody expects goals and assists. We do as well, obviously, but in terms of what he brings into the team, where he goes and moves, he might not actually get on the ball, but it helps me and Dom [Szoboszlai]. As he moves, a lad has to stay with Flo and it means that I’m free and that’s just the smart thing about how he plays.

“It’s a matter of time before he gets his goals and assists, you saw there he just got two and I told him just carry on. From the first day you could see he had that spark.

“The Premier League as well, of course it’s a huge change as well but he’s a smart lad, intelligent lad, technically he’s unbelievable as well, so it’s a matter of time before everybody sees the real Flo. We see it every day when he trains, I can’t wait until everybody really, really sees him. It’s exciting times for us and the whole team.”

Reports of Salah demise premature as Isak injury opens door for recall

The decision to drop Salah from the line-up also provoked plenty of heated debate, with Carragher doubling down on his theory at the weekend that the 33-year-old should be taken out of the firing line every now and then.

“I think we’re at that stage now where Mo Salah shouldn’t be a guaranteed starter every week.

“I do think this is a real conundrum for the manager going forward.”

Doubling down on that, Carragher added:  “Listen, Mo Salah is not playing well, he’s a legendary figure, one of the greatest players to ever play in the Premier League, I would say.

“But he’s at the stage now where I don’t think it should be a guarantee that he starts every game, especially away from home, more away from home.

“I’m thinking about these next two games, Frankfurt on Wednesday night and then Brentford on Saturday night. I think at his age as well, the way he’s playing, I don’t think he justifies right now playing every game.”

Former Reds striker Emile Heskey has also exclusively told TEAMtalk why dropping, or resting in his words, is a necessary action for Slot.

However, Joleon Lescott thinks Salah needs an instant recall by Liverpool and having suggested how the Reds can get him firing again.

“I don’t think Salah should be dropped. Rested maybe at certain times, yes. But the thing is with him, he’s not performing any differently, is he? He’s just not getting the goals,” Lescott stated.

“He’s not getting the chances. If he starts missing chances, then I can question his form because Salah is, for me, undoubtedly, a match decider. But his performances are pretty much the same.

“He’s operating in the same area of the field, he’s not asked to do much defensive work because he’s so efficient when he gets the ball in the final third in the box. If he’s doing that, then I’ve got to look at the team and be like, ‘Well, why are we not getting him the ball?’”

On how to get him back to his best, Lescott added: “Similar to [Erling] Haaland. I think there have been times where he’s been so efficient in front of the goal, if we just get him the ball in front of the goal he’ll do his job. I think Liverpool need to get to that.”

However, it’s certainly too early to write off Salah’s Liverpool career and the player is more than capable of bouncing back to top form.

Furthermore, Slot has confirmed Isak’s withdrawal on Wednesday night at half-time, owing to a groin injury which he has been struggling with ever since his arrival from Newcastle.

Should that keep him out of the starting line-up for Saturday night’s match at Brentford, the Dutchman could revert to a 4-3-3 formation, and potentially hand the Egyptian a recall to the side.

“Alexander had to go off at half-time because he felt his groin a little bit. That’s a pity,” Slot told TNT Sports after the match.

“I’ve said many times it is such a difficult balance to find with a player that missed three months.

“You go slowly with him and people argue about playing him longer. We’ve now played him for the second time in three days and, unfortunately, he had to go off.

“Let’s hope for the best, but it is not an easy balance to find when a player has been out for so long.”

He later added in his press conference: “Today with Alex and Hugo, I brought two players on the pitch who are usually able to score goals. Alex was a few times close but had to go off at half-time.

“Normally, you try to prepare players for once-a-week football, but if you are Liverpool you play every three days or normally three times in eight days but we’ve been unfortunate this season we have to play three times in seven days.

“We’ve tried to prepare him for that, we were really careful, and he was perfectly fit when he came back from the national team before the United game.

“We thought he was well prepared for that but the margins at the top are small. I’m hoping it won’t be that bad, because if he’s out for a few weeks it will put him back. So let’s wait.”

On the decision to pair Isak and Ekitike together, Slot commented: “I think it was good. It was not our best half together, but we can improve together.

“He’s a very good player and in time, we need to work together and find a good association. The links will come and then it will work.”

Latest Liverpool news: Semenyo hopes escalate / Real Madrid threat…

At the same time as Liverpool were winning, Real Madrid were also picking up a routine victory in the Champions League and their manager, Xabi Alonso, was quick to mention Reds playmaker Wirtz in his post-match interview and while praising an in-form Los Blancos star.

One man touted as a strong option to replace Salah at Anfield is Bournemouth’s in-form forward Antoine Semenyo.

And after details came to light of the clause that exists in his contract, a new five-word update on his future has given the Reds a real belief that a January deal is there to be done.

Elsewhere on the transfer front, Real Madrid are said to be preparing a move to sign a midfielder from the defending Premier League champions in the January transfer window.

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