Steve Nicol believes ‘brilliant’ Liverpool star looks like he has simply given up

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Liverpool are going through a rough patch and some of their stars are not pulling their weight.The Reds have lost three on the bounce for the first time under Arne Slot, leaving many left concerned for their title defence.However, it is only seven games in and there is still everything to play for, Slot just needs to find a solution fast.One problem is that there is not just a single issue to resolve, there are many, with many players struggling to find any sort of form.And there is one in particular who has been singled out a lot this season, with ex-Red Steve Nicol believing that he has simply given up.Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty ImagesSteve Nicol believes Mohamed Salah has given up for LiverpoolCriticising Mohamed Salah always seems unfair given how ‘brilliant’ he has been for the Reds over the years, but so far the Egyptian has been rather disappointing. He has scored just two goals in the league and failed to impact games in the way he used to, leaving many fans concerned about whether he is starting to slow down.As well as this, Salah has been criticised for his lack of defensive contributions, something Nicol also pointed out and thinks that he is not doing because he has given up.

“99% of players, when things aren’t going well for them, we understand that it’s fine as long as they work hard,” Nicol told ESPN.“But he seems to be walking around in a daze. Those breaks with Cucurella, Salah is not even thinking about him and why is that?READ MORE: Paul Scholes claims £34m Liverpool player looks absolutely useless sometimes“It surely cannot be that he doesn’t get it or understand it, and there is certainly no way Arne Slot isn’t telling him to keep an eye on Cucurella as he liked to get forward.“I’m going to be kind to Mo Salah and we can call it low confidence, but right now his head is scrambled and he is not seeing the clear picture.”Mohamed Salah has a long season aheadNow 33, Salah will likely need to have his minutes more carefully managed, especially as he will have to play a lot more games than most.Not only will he hope to feature in every Premier League and Champions League fixture, but the Reds will be looking to go deep in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup too.On top of this, Salah will represent his country at AFCON in the winter, as well as the World Cup in the summer should they qualify.

This is a lot of games for a player like him to handle, meaning that he may have this in the back of his mind, hence why he has taken his foot off the pedal.