Drop Salah or risk everything: Hamann urges Slot to bench the Egyptian after Eindhoven nightmare
28 November 2025
What went wrong at Anfield
German former star Didi Hamann publicly urged Liverpool manager Arne Slot to drop Mohamed Salah from the starting XI after the 1-4 defeat to PSV Eindhoven, calling the display shameful and hard to defend.
The Wednesday night loss at Anfield in the UEFA Champions League leaves Liverpool with nine defeats in their last twelve games across all competitions.
Salah's form has dipped sharply; he has neither scored nor assisted in the last four Champions League matches, and what angered Hamann most was the Egyptian's evident lack of defensive effort on Eindhoven's second goal.
Mauro Junior carried the ball past Salah near midfield, then Salah allowed him to run about 30 yards unchallenged, culminating in Jos Teel's goal in the 56th minute.
After watching the performance, Hamann told RTÉ Sport that Slot should drop Salah for the upcoming match against West Ham on Sunday, or risk putting his own job in jeopardy.
Hamann said, in RTÉ Sport interviews, that there comes a point where you must bench players even when they are big names. Slot faces a choice: should Salah keep his place or should he sacrifice him for the team?
He added that Salah's involvement in the second goal was embarrassing and that Slot had a real opportunity to take him off immediately.
For a player of Salah's value, it pains me to say this, but letting him drift through a goal like that without offering any help to the team is unacceptable.
Salah, now 33, was one of the world's best players last season, scoring 29 goals and assisting 18 more in 38 league games as Liverpool clinched the title in Slot's first season with the Reds.
Since Slot took charge, defensive duties were eased compared with the Klopp era, and that idea worked in 2024-2025, but things have not gone as well this season for both the team and the player.
Danny Murphy, a Liverpool legend, criticized the current approach, saying Slot seems to watch the same thing again and again without changing the plan.
He stressed that Salah is not incapable of running, but simply hasn’t been asked to defend in many moments. He has not done so consistently for a while.
Murphy added that Salah said last season he enjoyed more freedom because he didn’t defend like he did under Klopp, but repeating that pattern has become a problem.
He concluded that Salah should not be dropped entirely—he remains a constant threat to opponents—but he should be told clearly: you must defend more.
In the grand arc of Salah’s season, Liverpool search for the form that propelled them to the title last year, while Slot weighs the balance between attack and defense for his squad.
Humour note aside, the question remains: will Slot pull the trigger and bench Salah, or will he gamble on a solution that keeps the high-powered attack intact while reshaping defensive duties?
Punchline time: If defending were an Olympic sport, Salah would still need a passport to get into the box. Punchline two: Slot’s decision will be sharper than Salah’s first touch—and that’s saying something for a man who once danced past defenses like a dancer in a mall security video.
