Spalletti: Salah must go back to basics

Roma boss Luciano Spalletti has told winger Mohamed Salah to go back to doing the basics in order to rediscover his early season form.

Salah scored six goals in his first 14 appearances for Roma after making the switch from Chelsea, but ever since an ankle injury during the Rome derby with Lazio has struggled for form.

The Egypt international missed four weeks as he recovered and has not scored since, his last goal coming on November 4.

Spalletti – who replaced Rudi Garcia on January 13 – has backed him to get back to his best.

“He’s been affected by his injury,” Spalletti said at a media conference. “He hasn’t rediscovered his brilliance and inspiration again. 

“The first thing he has to do is beat his man, he has to think about beating his man, that’s his thing.

“He [Salah] is good with the ball at his feet. We’re working on his positioning.”

New signing Stephan El Shaarawy could come in for Roma against Frosinone this weekend after completing his loan deal from AC Milan, although Spalletti remains unsure how much of the game he will be able to play.

He added: “We’ll have to figure out if he can make a contribution during the game, or if it’s better to have a look at him in a few more training sessions.

“He’s coming off a period where he hasn’t been playing [during his previous loan spell at Monaco], so it’s more likely he’ll come on during the game.

“He has important attributes, he has good technique and knows where the goal is. We’ll find his role.

“He can be a third striker, but at the same time he knows how to play every role across the front-line.”