How the Salah signing will change Liverpool’s starting XI
Liverpool signed Roma winger Mohamed Salah yesterday. The left footed winger gives Jurgen Klopp several options to change his tried and true 4–3–3 formation next season in both the Premier League Champions League. Salah will bring pace and goalscoring ability into the team next season, I’m expecting a return somewhere around 10 goals and 10 assists.
I still believe that Klopp will stick with the 4–3–3 next year but will tweak his lineup next season because of this move. For those that think Salah isn’t a guaranteed starter next season please remove your heads from your rear ends. Liverpool didn’t spend a club record fee for a back up winger. Do I think that Salah starts all 38 premier league games next year? No, I do not. I do however think that the regular front four next season will be Salah on the right, Firmino as the striker, Mane on the left and Coutinho in midfield. Salah is left footed, so putting him on the right so he can cut in on that left foot makes a lot of sense. Sadio Mane has played both through the middle and on the left wing plenty of times during his career either at Southampton or Red Bull Salzburg. He is also right footed, so he can cut in from the left and use that right foot to shoot. Jurgen Klopp used Coutinho in a midfield role to good success towards the end of last season in the EPL. Additionally he was never a true winger last season. He never stayed wide and would often drift into midfield anyways.
I see this move as one that gives Liverpool more options. This is what I think the main front 6 will look like next season.
Coutinho can be a stud in midfield and will most likely slide into that 10 position during the game. Additionally there is still a strong possibility that we see Coutinho still play in that LW position next year. The fluidity that the team showed last season was a big part of I picked Wijnaldum for this XI but I think he and Adam Lallana will swap spots pretty regularly. Additionally bringing on a hard working player like Adam Lallana at the end of games could be a really good for the team. His high effort inside of the system could see him come on and win games for Liverpool. Emre Can becomes a bench player again but that isn’t the worst thing in the world. Making Can earn his spot is only going to make him improve. There’s a good chance that Emre Can plays for Henderson due to Henderson’s well known plantar fasciitis problem. This plantar fasciitis issue is one of the reasons Liverpool need to sign a defensive midfielder this summer. Where Marko Grujic fits in this squad is a question for another day at this point. He would need to have a very strong preseason to fit in well.
All in all this is a great move for Liverpool. This Salah move gives Klopp more of a chance to swap up his lineup week to week. This is something he couldn’t do. The squad will be less predictable which is a big plus for Liverpool, outside of the fact that Salah will add to the goal tally and terrorize fullbacks in the EPL next year. They will have two of the fastest wingers in the EPL running in front of Coutinho which is absolutely tantalizing. Liverpool’s already exciting attack just got better.
