What’s next for Mohamed Salah and Liverpool?

Mohamed Salah was one of the first players to leave the team. Liverpool Locker room after Sunday Win at Nottingham Forest.

When asked if he wanted to talk, the Egyptian striker politely declined and smiled as he walked through the mixed zone and towards the team bus. You don’t need to stop while you’re getting started.

It’s been more than two months since Salah’s explosive mixed-field interview in which he claimed the club threw him under the bus after being left out of the starting 11 at Leeds United for a third consecutive match.

Regardless of what people thought, it worked for him to some extent.

Liverpool’s injury problems have certainly played a part and since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in January the 33-year-old has started every game for Liverpool. Before Afcon, manager Arne Slot had not started him in five consecutive games.

Those close to the situation insist that making a statement via social media channels rather than an interview in Leeds was considered an option, but Salah’s anger at his treatment was so high that he wanted to come forward with guns blazing.

“I don’t know why but it seems to me that someone doesn’t want me at the club,” said Elland Road’s Salah.

The following week he apologized to his team-mates, shook hands with Slot and the Liverpool boss insisted there was no longer a problem to be resolved. Salah went to Afcon, where he excelled.

A member of the Egypt national team told BBC Sport that it was the happiest camp they had ever seen Salah, and Salah described it as the “best camp” of his life.

He came straight back into the team upon his return to Liverpool, and after Liverpool beat Brighton in the FA Cup this month (in a match in which he scored a goal and made an assist), Slot highlighted Salah’s work off the ball.

“What I like most is him scoring goals. [which you] I almost expected it, but he also helps the team a lot defensively and that’s a very positive thing,” said Slot.

Salah showed improvement compared to last season in terms of possession throughout the pitch and in the final third.

He has two goals and four assists in eight games since his return, but for a man accustomed to spectacularity, the key measure is where he is lacking.

You have to go back to November for his last Premier League goal, and if he doesn’t score against West Ham at Anfield on Saturday (15:00 GMT), it will be 10 games goalless in the top-flight league. This is already the longest drought of his Premier League career.

“He sets his own standards and those standards are so high that the moment he doesn’t score in a few games people are immediately surprised. That’s probably the biggest compliment he can get,” Slot said on Friday.

Salah is truly a victim of his own standards, and so his downfall is deeply felt. The player, who has an average of 0.56 goals and assists per league match this season, scored and assisted the most goals last season with an average of 1.25 goals and assists. In fact, offensive performance dropped by more than half.

He also shoots less and touches the opponent’s penalty area less; His xG (expected goals) per 90 minutes was halved, from 0.68 to 0.34.

However, his overall offensive numbers are still good. Salah has more goals in the league (10) than the likes of Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka, and only Hugo Ekitike has more goals for Liverpool (12).

“We’re used to Mo scoring a lot of goals, and that’s probably the biggest difference in his performance now. But we know it’s happened before. I’ve asked these questions before, when he didn’t score three goals, when he didn’t score five goals, or when I didn’t know the exact numbers. But I also know that he always ends up scoring goals again,” said Slot.