Liverpool have exectued a pretty brilliant strategy, which is if a team is going to go off the boil, it's best to do it when they already have a 11-point lead in the Premier League. It's the "If you gotta pass gas, do it outside" method of managing a run to the title. There will be no panic buttons being hit on Merseyside, especially with the next three games being West Ham at home, Leicester away, and Spurs at home. Unless something is truly wrong within the walls, Liverpool should get right in the next few weeks and maybe even clinch the title in that time, should a distracted Arsenal slip again.
But still, there is something of a tinted cloud hanging over Anfield, if not necessarily a dark one, given that Liverpool's dip in form has coincided with a drop in form from Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah, the two pillars on which this title-winning season has been built. The sight of van Dijk performing some sort of mall-dojo level karate kick while whiffing the ball which let Everton's Beto clean through last week was about as jarring for Liverpool supporters as walking in on your parents. Salah only has two goals and an assist in his last seven, and those two goals were penalties against Southampton.
Adding to that angst is that they are two of the "Contract Three," with their deals ending after the season along with Trent Alexander-Arnold. There's been no resolution, which lets fans' minds wander to some very scary places. While trying to figure out what to do about it, the coaches and hierarchy at Liverpool might want to consider how these two have been used in what is unquestionably the back-nine of their careers.
To be fair to both van Dijk and Salah, these are two of the greatest players to ever grace the Premier League. Some would tell you van Dijk is the best defender to ever play in it (I would), and Salah is already top five in goals all-time and could end up second by the time he's done. They are unicorns, and normal rules and practices might not apply to them, at least not fully.
Still, players at this age in their positions playing as much as van Dijk and Salah is pretty rare. In the Premier League since the turn of the century, only nine defenders aged 33 or above have started 35 matches or more, which van Dijk is more than on pace for, as he's started every one. Of those, only John Terry at Chelsea in 2014-15 piled Champions League commitments on top of it, and that was the last season Terry played that much. He was playing in the Championship three seasons later.
Age is starting to catch up with Liverpool
If we expand out to the top five European leagues, there are 64 players this century who have played this much in a league season at age 33 or older. Of those, only a handful were playing for Champions League clubs. One was Inter's Javier Zanetti, who indeed was timeless and piled up 33 starts when he was 38. Another was Sergio Ramos, and age 33 was the last time he played near that much for Real Madrid. He had injury problems the next season, and then left for PSG after that. Axel Witsel started 30 times for Atlético Madrid just last season at age 34. But he's also a former midfielder and is on pace for half of that this season. That's about it.
We can safely say that van Dijk is in the Zanetti class, but that doesn't mean he has to be treated like that.
As for Salah, the list of attackers in the Premier League this century that have played this much isn't too much longer than the defenders one. There have been 13 players aged 33 or older to start 35 games or more. None of them were also piling on Champions League duties on top of that. A couple were still productive well after their 33rd birthday, such as Jamie Vardy or Gianfranco Zola, But none were playing at this level.
Expand it out to the top five European leagues, and there's one name that will pop out to my fellow Liverpool supporters. That's Lionel Messi, who is Lionel Messi, and though Salah is not Messi, he can at least see Messi's apartment down the block. Except ... it was at 33 that Messi moved to PSG (against his will, it has to be said), and he's only played more than 30 matches in a season once since. Robert Lewandowski is 35 and has over 20 goals in La Liga. Luis Suárez dragged Atlético to a La Liga title at 33, but seriously faded after that.
Salah is used to doing things that very few if any have done before, but it's worth underlining that players who could dominate at 33 or older in the Premier League on a Champions League club playing every game ... well, it just hasn't happened.
That doesn't mean that Liverpool should tear up whatever offers they have for van Dijk and Salah out there and hip-toss them both out the door as soon as the trophy is lifted. These two aren't going from world class to punter in the span of one season. But what it does mean is that Arne Slot will have to be more judicious in their use next season, if they're both still around. They don't need to be playing every Premier League game, even if they're fit enough. Liverpool will have to build their squad in the summer to accommodate that. If that means they can't trust the injury-prone Joe Gomez and Ibrahima Konate to take more games on their own, that's what it means. If it means they need another wide attacker in addition to the #9 they're already suspected of chasing, that's what it means.
Because it's likely they're not going to have an 11-point lead come next year that allows them to shrug off the fade of their two pillars that they probably overplayed.