Pace is huge. A wide forward without athleticism in our setup is awful for our system. Perhaps Salah has been on a downward curve athletically for a couple of years and it’s now reached a point where he can’t compensate in other ways. Perhaps his decline in pace has been matched with a decline in balance, strength, stamina etc and he can’t compensate for it.
I don't think he looks slower than he did earlier in the season. Salah hasn't been able to beat players with pace or run away from opponents in a foot race for a long time.
As recently as the middle of February, he came on in a game vs Brentford and looked like the best version of Mo Salah - swaggering, lively, creative, composed. Contrast that to the absolute shell of a player we've seen since his injury re-occurred in that game. Pace doesn't explain that enormous drop-off from less than 10 weeks ago.
His strength was one of his huge attributes up to recently - he now looks weak as piss against any opponent.
His confidence and willingness to take responsibility are gone.
His basic touch is awful.
He can't finish.
It's not just pace - it's like all of his abilities have gone to shit. He looks like a player who's injured to me, but I don't think that's the case, cos he wouldn't be picked if he was unfit. And he's had a lot of time since his injuries to get all his match fitness back. Instead he looks almost worse by the game.