It’s the bit nobody enjoys saying out loud, but it’s staring us in the face: if Mo’s pace has dropped, then a huge chunk of what made him unplayable drops with it. Not the finishing instincts, not the habits, not the football brain. The burst. The separation. That half-yard that turns a footrace into a one-man breakaway.
The moment that’s stuck with me is the one from Saturday, when he ran clear from his own half. We’ve seen that scene a hundred times at Anfield and away: head down, ball nudged into space, defenders panicking because they know what’s coming. The point being made here is simple, and it’s a brutal one: this time he had a head start and still got reeled in.
Why it changes the one-on-ones
When a winger loses that top-end speed, it doesn’t just affect the long sprints. It shows up in every tight duel as well. The old Mo could shift it and go, and the defender had to turn. Now, if the defender can hold their ground and match him over the first few yards, you start seeing those moments where the ball gets knocked into shins and the move dies.
And then everything around him changes too. Full-backs step out a little braver. The cover defender cheats across earlier. The space that used to open up for others becomes harder to find because the opposition aren’t as terrified of the run in behind.
Still a weapon, just a different one
None of this has to turn into disrespect. He’s been a genuine Liverpool legend, one of the best we’ve had in the Premier League era, and he’s delivered for years when the pressure was highest. But time catches everybody. If it didn’t, Steven Gerrard would still be running our midfield.
The key point is that there are still things he can do at a high level. The final ball. The curled cross. The little cut-back that opens a defence, like the one referenced for Wirtz on Saturday. That’s not nothing. In fact, it’s often the difference in tight games. But if the legs have “gone” in the way the post suggests, then Liverpool have to be honest about what role suits him now, and what role doesn’t.
The rebuild of the front line
This is where the conversation naturally shifts from sentiment to planning. If you believe Mo won’t see out the last year of his contract, then the club can’t leave that hole until the last minute. You’re not just replacing goals, you’re replacing balance: the way the right side pins teams back, the way the threat forces a back line to sit that little bit deeper.
The suggestion of Michael Olise is basically that idea in human form: someone who can restore that right-sided equilibrium. Whether getting him out of Bayern is realistic is another matter, and it’s fair to flag that uncertainty. But the wider point lands. If Liverpool want a front three that scares defenders, it needs pace and variety again, and it needs players comfortable swapping roles rather than staying in their lane.
If this is the new phase, then Arne Slot’s job is to make it feel like evolution rather than decline. Because for Liverpool, standing still is the one option we can’t afford.
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