A year ago, Mohamed Salah could do no wrong as his performances on the pitch inspired Liverpool to the title and made his case for a new contract far too compelling for the Reds' ownership to ignore.
But 12 months on, the Egyptian is increasingly being blamed from some quarters as either a cause or a symptom of the reigning champions' worsening struggles in the Premier League.
This weekend, Arne Slot's side were again humbled, this time at home against struggling Nottingham Forest, with a 3-0 victory for Sean Dyche's side representing a new nadir for beleaguered Liverpool.
Their latest loss means they've now been defeated in six of their last seven top flight matches -- a worse record than any other PL team has registered this season -- while the erstwhile title favourites now find themselves a whopping 11 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
If their hopes of reigning the crown aren't entirely extinguished, we aren't far away... Amidst the struggles of the collective, Salah is enduring a particularly testing individual campaign, a far cry from the elite season he enjoyed last term.
On Wednesday, the forward was pipped to the African Footballer of the Year award by Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi, despite scoring 29 and registering 18 assists in the Prem last term, winning the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards, the Golden Boot and the league title.
That Salah has disappeared, replaced with a player who has scored just twice in the top flight since mid-September, and hasn't registered an assist in any competition since the 2-1 derby victory over Everton over two months ago.
Across seven matches earlier in the campaign, Salah failed to complete a single successful dribble, something that would have been unthinkable even last season, while only two players in the division (Mohammed Kudus and João Pedro) are being dispossessed more often in matches than the North African.
Salah's off-field contribution to helping the club's cause during these testing months is also coming under increasing scrutiny.
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, Liverpool great Jamie Carragher criticised the Egyptian's accountability during the Reds' slump, which comes in stark contrast to the player's willingness to speak to the media a year ago, when he appeared particularly keen to highlight the ownership's apparent reluctance to offer him the contractual terms he desired.
"There should be other players in that dressing room [beyond captain Virgil van Dijk], coming out and speaking for the club," Carragher began.
"A year ago this weekend, Mo Salah wasn't shy in coming out and speaking about his own situation, about the club not offering him a new contract.
"I only ever hear Salah speak when he gets Man of the Match, or when he needs a new contract.
"I'd like to see Mo Salah come out as one of the leaders, one of the legends of Liverpool, come out and speak for the team, it shouldn't always be the captain."
Shaka Hislop speaks after Liverpool's 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
With dramatically reduced goals and assists, and his attitude being questioned, Salah's limited defensive contribution is also coming under increasing scrutiny.
Speaking on his podcast this Sunday, Wayne Rooney urged Arne Slot to consider the forward's previously indisputable place in his starting XI.
"If I was Slot, I'd try and make a big decision just so it has an impact on the rest of the team," Rooney said in his 'Wayne Rooney Show' podcast. "Salah is not helping them defensively.
"If you're one of the players who they've signed and you're on the bench and you've seen him not running - and again he's a club legend and everything he's done for the club - but if you're on the bench, then what message does that send to you?"
Indeed, if this increasingly wayward Liverpool side are to return to the basics in order to play their way back into form, becoming dogged, resilient and difficult to beat in the process, it's hard to see where Salah -- for all of his majesty and legacy -- fits in in the short term. To his credit, the forward did start the Forest game brightly - troubling his opposite number Neco Williams during the early exchanges - while regularly seeking to feed Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak with dangerous balls into the box.
Perhaps some of the underlying numbers ought to offer encouragement; the 33-year-old is in the top five in the division for key passes per game, creating two changes on average per game for his teammates while only two players are averaging more than his 2.5 shots per match during the campaign so far.
However, when Salah was dropped for the thumping 5-1 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt last month, Liverpool delivered arguably their most complete and balanced performance of the season, with new boy Florian Wirtz allowed to showcase his £116 million-worth of talent in the Egyptian's favoured right-sided position.
It was a glimpse into Liverpool's future, a world without Salah, although the club great may also point to the 1-0 victory at home against Real Madrid earlier this month, where both he and Wirtz started in tandem, as a compromised option that could help Slot restore the Reds' lustre domestically while incorporating both players.
Before too long, the Africa Cup of Nations will force Slot's hand anyway with Salah being gone for nearly a month, and Liverpool will begin to be configured without one of their greatest ever players.
Just entering into this much talked-about two-year contract extension, on an eye-watering £400k-per-week deal, Liverpool cannot jettison their star man anytime soon, but his declining performances suggest he risks becoming an anchor in Slot's attempts to remodel and rebuild Jurgen Klopp's last ageing side.
Previously, Salah's limited contribution was largely only hurting Liverpool in games against the league's top sides, but the loss against Forest - currently 16th in the table - ought to be a watershed moment for the detail-driven Slot; such is Liverpool's disarray and ongoing failings, they cannot tolerate passengers anywhere in the side.
A case could be made that Salah's toil is a consequence of -- rather than a cause of -- Liverpool's struggles. The loss of Diogo Jota, the delay in signing Alexander Isak, the Isak-Ekitike conundrum that appeared to be a problem entirely of Liverpool's making, the complete evaporation of Ibrahima Konaté's defensive senses, Wirtz's struggles to adapt, the problem in replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold (who enjoyed such a strong understanding with Salah) on one flank, the limitations of Milos Kerkez on the other...
Each are problems that have led to this once well-oiled machine lacking the cohesion, intensity and fluidity of years gone by, and each are impacting - to some degree - on Salah's performances.
However, at 33, we know what this player is all about - his strengths and his weaknesses, the areas where he excels and the areas where he sidesteps responsibility.
Perhaps the greatest evidence of Salah's drastically reduced influence at Anfield isn't to be found in the turgid performances of this season, but in the defeats, last season, by Newcastle United in the EFL Cup final and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League Round of 16.
These were the glimpses into Liverpool's reality with an ageing Salah against the toughest teams, and of Salah's reality within a team that isn't functioning to the sharpness and potency to which he is accustomed.
In the weeks and months to come, Liverpool will begin to rediscover their mojo, the defeats will reduce, and Salah - when inevitably benched again - will be rotated back into the side and given the opportunity to impress.
Unfortunately, it's hard to truly see how player and club arrive at a happy ending and rediscover the synergy that once characterised both, at least as it ever was before.