Mohamed Salah is giving Arne Slot a much bigger issue than just his work-rate at Liverpool - opinion

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Mohamed Salah has come under heavy criticism at the start of the new season.The Reds are not as free-flowing as they once were, with three losses on the bounce something that has been a huge concern.The defence has been poor but the attack has equally struggled, with players like Salah yet to find their feet this season.The Egyptian has just two goals in the Premier League, something very uncharacteristic of him to say the least, although he has not just been criticised for his attacking output.Salah’s defensive work-rate has come under fire and many believe that this is becoming a huge problem for Liverpool, although that simply is not true.Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty ImagesMohamed Salah’s defensive work-rate is not the problemOne change Salah has made to his game since Arne Slot came in for Jurgen Klopp is that he is much more attacking.The Dutchman urged his star man to stay forward as much as possible so his output in the final third can be maximised, basically meaning he can neglect his defensive duties.Last season, no one had a problem with it as it worked perfectly, although now Liverpool are starting to be caught defensively, the finger is starting to be pointed at the Egyptian. However, this is simply not Salah’s fault and the problem is coming from the midfield, with the Reds having no one to come across and cover for him anymore.In the past, Jordan Henderson used to do this job, and then when Slot came in, Dominik Szoboszlai would take on this responsibility.READ MORE: Alan Brazil says £36m Liverpool player is an ‘accident waiting to happen’ at the momentBut now Liverpool play with a number 10 in Florian Wirtz, they are one shorter in midfield, hence why players are causing problems down their right-hand side.Naturally, Salah then gets the blame, although this problem is nothing to do with anything he himself has changed within his game.Arne Slot needs to change his approachIt seems clear that the Dutchman has two main options: either he tells Salah that he can no longer just attack or he adapts his midfield.The latter seems the more likely option, with perhaps a ‘flatter’ midfield three the way forward, meaning they do not use a recognised number 10.Although it did not quite work against Chelsea, sticking with their trusted trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai seems the most reliable, with Wirtz then moving out to the left.This means the Hungarian, just like last season, can cover Salah defensively and the 33-year-old can stay forward and get back to scoring goals.