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Liverpool fans were heavily critical of Mohamed Salah's poor performance during Liverpool's 3-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on February 4 at the Molineux Stadium.
'The Egyptian King' has been a consistent performer for the club since his arrival from Roma in 2017. He has won three golden boots with the Reds, solidifying himself as the highest-scoring African player in EPL history. He also helped the Reds end their long trophy drought by winning the UEFA Champions League and Premier League.
Salah became Liverpool's highest-paid player in history after signing a three-year contract worth £350,000 a week in July 2022. Many fans believed this would only fuel his hunger for goals further after Liverpool came close to completing a quadruple the previous season.
Despite having 17 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions this season, Salah has not been effective post-World Cup. His decision-making has been disappointing and the goals have dried up, with his last Premier League goal coming against Aston Villa on December 26, 2022.
As a result of his poor form, as well as injuries to other key players, the Reds are currently languishing in 10th position, a shadow of the team that competed for the title last season.
In his 200th Premier League appearance against Wolves, Salah was expected to break his goal drought and get the Reds back to winning ways. Instead, he looked lost and wasted all the opportunities he got. His best chance came in the second half when he was played in by Cody Gakpo, but the 30-year-old failed to test Jose Sa.
Wolves took full advantage of Liverpool's vulnerabilities at the back to score two quick goals inside the first 15 minutes through a Joel Matip own-goal and Craig Dawson volley. Ruben Neves scored the third to wrap up the three points for the home team.
Here are some of the reactions from the livid Anfield faithful:
The Reds need more from their talisman and Salah will look to get back to his best form to help them make a final push for the Champions League spots.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp defends Salah's goal drought
Prior to Liverpool's defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Jurgen Klopp insisted that Mohamed Salah is not short of confidence, despite only scoring once in his last seven league appearances for the club.
Instead, Klopp believes Salah's poor form has been caused by inconsistent selections due to injuries to key members of the squad. In his pre-match press conference, the German tactician said:
“Lost confidence? No, it’s how strikers are. All of them, when it’s going well and other moments when you have to go through these periods,” Klopp said. “I don’t think there’s much difference."
He added:
“We spoke last week in the press conference about all the changes we’ve had to make, changes up front. Every striker benefits from settled things, from patterns, everybody knows about. That, for sure, was more of a problem than other stuff."
“But, of course, when you don’t score for a while it’s true, you might not be on 100 per cent confidence level, but the desire to do it grows every hour, so that’s it.”
