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Liverpool legend John Aldridge has insisted that Mohamed Salah's mind was not at Anfield as the Reds beat Watford in the Premier League at the weekend.
Jurgen Klopp's side returned to action following the international break with a 2-0 victory over the Hornets at home on Saturday. Diogo Jota and Fabinho found the back of the net for the hosts as they took their winning run in the Premier League to 10 games.
Premier League top goalscorer Salah, though, looked off-color against Roy Hodgson's men. The 29-year-old struggled to make an impact for Liverpool and was eventually replaced by Sadio Mane in the 69th-minute of the match.
Salah suffered heartbreak with the Egypt national team last week as they failed to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing to Senegal on penalties in the qualifiers. The Liverpool forward, who missed a spot-kick, had to be escorted off the pitch after full-time as opposition fans threw objects at him.
Salah started for the Reds against Watford just three days later and Aldridge feels external factors, which could also include his ongoing contract dispute with the club, affected his performance. The Anfield great was disappointed with the Egyptian's body language at the weekend. He wrote in his column for The Echo:
"I’m looking at Mo [Salah] - his body language at the weekend wasn’t great. I might be wrong, but mentally for me he wasn’t there. He’s paid by Liverpool Football Club and he can’t let the disappointment of not going to the World Cup affect him."
"Whether it was that or the contract dispute, I think everyone would agree with me that his head wasn’t at Anfield on Saturday. Subsequently I thought it was the worst game that I’ve seen him play in a long time. Whether it was something else that we don’t know about, I don’t know."
Liverpool have important games against Manchester City (April 10th) and Benfica (April 5th and 13th) coming up in the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, respectively. The Reds will be hoping that Salah can return to firing on all cylinders in those matches.
Salah in contract stand-off with Liverpool
Salah has a contract with the Reds until the end of the 2022-23 season. Klopp's side are determined to tie the Egyptian down to a new deal, but talks have proven to be unsuccessful so far.
Both parties are said to be keen to extend their relationship beyond next year. However, Liverpool are not prepared to break their wage structure to hand the 29-year-old a new contract.
The Reds made their latest contract offer to Salah last December. The player and his agent, though, had rejected the proposal.
