Arne Slot insists Mohamed Salah still has the ‘fire’ to lead the line for Liverpool.
Salah has visibly struggled to live up to his usually lofty standards this season with no goals from his previous six outings for Slot’s side in all competitions.
He was dropped for Wednesday’s resounding Champions League win over Eintracht Frankfurt which arrested the Reds’ slump of four straight defeats.
The Egypt international was visibly frustrated after coming on as a substitute for the Reds and one of the first to head down the tunnel at the final whistle.
But ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Brentford, Slot believes that Salah’s reaction would be more concerning if he had accepted the demotion.
“I hope he is not ever going to take it well because the moment you are going to take it well then you miss the fire,” said the Liverpool head coach.
“That goes for every player, by the way. Not only Mo.
“The moment you start to accept that you are not playing anymore and you are fine with that, then you miss the fire that is needed to play at this level.”
He added: “My experience in general is that it’s quite hard for a player to understand why he’s not playing.
“They all see football through their eyes, and again that’s a good thing.
“If you go over to all 20 players now to name a line-up, I’d be surprised if there’s one player who doesn’t put himself in.
“That’s not to say that they don’t understand we have more than a few good players here and once in a while somebody isn’t playing.
“But if we have to play a Champions League final tomorrow and you ask them to make a line-up, I’d be surprised if one of them doesn’t put themselves in – except maybe youngsters Rio (Ngumoha) or Trey (Nyoni).”