Post-Salah Team with Salah Still In It Created Fundamental Contradiction

The observation that Liverpool had become “a post-Salah team with Salah still in it” perfectly captured the tactical contradiction undermining their season. Arne Slot built a squad and system designed to function without Mohamed Salah’s specific qualities, yet the Egyptian remained in the lineup, creating fundamental incompatibility between tactical vision and personnel deployment.
This contradiction stemmed from multiple factors. Slot’s preferred 4-2-3-1 formation requires defensive contributions from wide players that Salah doesn’t naturally provide. Summer signings were recruited to fit this system rather than to complement Salah’s strengths. The tactical framework envisioned a team structure different from what Salah thrives within.
Maintaining Salah in this incompatible system created problems at both ends. Defensively, his reluctance to track back left right-backs exposed, contributing to Liverpool’s unprecedented defensive fragility. Offensively, his positioning and movement didn’t align with patterns designed around different player profiles, reducing attacking fluency despite his individual quality.
The contradiction became unsustainable once defensive results reached crisis levels. Conceding three or more goals in three consecutive matches for the first time in 75 years forced resolution. Slot could either abandon his tactical vision to accommodate Salah or implement his preferred system without the star player. The West Ham team selection demonstrated his choice.
Resolving this contradiction opens questions about Salah’s Liverpool future. Can he adapt his game to fit Slot’s requirements? Will Liverpool revert to accommodating him despite tactical preferences? Or does this represent the beginning of the end for one of their greatest modern players? The post-Salah team has arrived; whether Salah remains part of it depends on adaptability and compromise from both player and manager.