Reporter: Salah is obviously frustrated, but he deserves sympathy and respect rather than criticism

In the third round of the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool defeated Frankfurt 5-1 away from home. In this game, Salah came on as a substitute but his performance was still disappointing. Regarding the situation of the Egyptian star, Theathletic Liverpool expressed his views on the situation with team reporter James Pierce.

After the final whistle sounded, Egyptian forward Salah briefly applauded the Liverpool fans, and then went straight to the player tunnel. His body language revealed a lot of information.

Liverpool defeated Frankfurt 5-1 in the Champions League, ending its previous four-game losing streak. But for Salah, the game was fraught with personal frustration. He failed to start back-to-back Champions League games for the first time in his career at Anfield, and his frustration was heightened as he watched his team produce their best performance of the season in his absence.

Salah came on as a substitute with 16 minutes left in the game, replacing Ekitic who performed well. However, his performance proved why he was placed on the bench. He had two excellent scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize on them. In order to end his recent goal drought, he tried to shoot from a very tight angle in one attack instead of passing it to Wirtz who was in a better position, which fully demonstrated his impatience.

This is Salah's most difficult period in Liverpool's eight years. He has now scored just three goals in all competitions (one of which was a penalty against Burnley), which is the lowest tally of his career at this time. There were frequent issues with his touch and decision-making, and the player who had broken multiple records and achieved legendary status seemed to have lost his confidence.

Despite this, it would be foolish to conclude that Salah is no longer good now. Although he is 33 years old and cannot fight the passage of time forever, it is only October after all. After a series of personnel changes at Liverpool, he is clearly still adapting to his new on-field relationships.

Some people are good at forgetting. A few months ago, Salah just won multiple individual awards for his outstanding performance of 57 goals and assists in a season (34 goals, 23 assists). He deserves a two-year contract extension with a weekly salary of up to 400,000 pounds. If he loses him, the fans will be very angry.

Salah is not a person who gives up easily. He's a very competitive player and must be feeling a lot of pain right now. As the third-leading scorer in the club's history, he is eager to chase more records and win the Golden Boot again. Additionally, Jota's death in July also had an impact on Salah. After the game against Bournemouth in August, Salah shed tears in front of the Kop as Jota's song was chanted repeatedly, suggesting he was struggling to cope with the grief of losing his friend. He deserves sympathy and respect, not criticism. His stoppage-time penalty at Burnley proved why Liverpool want him on the pitch.

However, the discussion about whether Salah should remain in Liverpool's starting lineup is also reasonable. This is the first time he has faced such questions since joining from Roma in the summer of 2017. When Salah was left out of last month's game against Galatasaray, head coach Slott could explain it as a way to keep him fresh as that game was sandwiched in between Premier League games against Crystal Palace and Chelsea. But in this game in Frankfurt, things were different. Liverpool were in desperate need of a win to boost morale and the manager chose to look for other solutions rather than rely on a long-time contributor.

Will Salah return to the starting lineup against Brentford on Saturday? That may depend on whether Slaughter continues with the new formation he experimented with at Frankfurt. This formation is 4-4-2, but without the ball it is actually 4-2-2-2, and in possession it is 2-4-4.

The tactical adjustment allowed Liverpool to win by more than two goals in a game for the first time since defeating Tottenham 5-1 at Anfield in April to secure the Premier League title. Despite their mediocre opponents and porous defense, Liverpool's performance was still impressive. Van Dijk and Konate both scored with headers from corner kicks. Given Salah's reluctance to drop back, it's difficult to imagine him playing a role on the right like the one Wirtz had on Wednesday night. Wirtz contributed two assists and performed very well.

Isak missed several opportunities and was replaced in the second half due to groin discomfort. Slott chose to bring Chiesa on as a substitute instead of Salah. With Isaac unlikely to feature, Saturday's game will once again be a choice between Chiesa and Salah, with the former in better form.

Liverpool's midfield performed better against Eintracht Frankfurt, with Curtis Jones performing particularly well. The youth academy product completed 122 passes, setting a new record for Liverpool in the Champions League. Szoboszlai performed well when paired with Jones, scoring his fifth goal from 20 yards, while Gakpo scored for the third consecutive game. Robertson's fine pass set up Ekitic's equalizer and the Scottish left-back, like Jones, should continue to start against Brentford. Frimpong left the game with a hamstring injury and Bradley will continue to play at right back.

This game restored Liverpool's confidence. Ekitic did not celebrate the goal against his old club, but he has proved that he should get more playing opportunities in the Premier League. Ekitic has quickly become Liverpool's most dangerous attacker, and Salah is no longer the team's number one. How he responds to this change will determine whether this marks the beginning of a new era at Anfield.