20 Mar 2018 17:35:41
I’m going to be honest here, I expected Salah’s goals to dry up a while ago, I thought he'd run out of steam of the opposition would figure out how to stop him. What he's achieving is hard to fathom, here’s a player who hadn’t made a success of his first crack at the Premier League, who was supposedly a second or even third choice purchase, who isn’t a dedicated striker, in his debut season with a good but still in development side who is on course to have the greatest season, in terms of goal scoring at least, of any player in Premier League history, it’s just crazy!

How crazy? Salah is only the tenth player to score 28 goals in a 38-game PL season, he’s hit that mark with seven games to go. He’s only three goals behind the record for a single season shared between Shearer, Ronaldo and Suarez, barring injury it’s almost a formality that he’ll break it. To hammer home the point he’s currently scoring at a rate of one goal every 85 minutes, only two other players (who scored at least 20 goals) have broken the 90 minute barrier (Ronaldo, 89 minutes in the 07/ 08 season and Kane who holds the record at a goal every 87 minutes last season) .

The surprising thing is that he’s not even a classic world star, he doesn’t bamboozle defenders with fancy tricks or have an unnatural ability to manipulate the ball, he’s just brutally efficient. Klopp’s team is at it’s best either on the counter attack or when it steals the ball in the opposition half, in these situations Salah can receive the ball behind the opposition midfield and find himself in a one on one with defenders who simply cannot cope with his pace and strength. It’s then a ‘simple’ case of creating a half a yard of space and slotting beyond a despairing keeper.

For some reason though, I still doubt the greatness I'm witnessing. The great Liverpool goal scorers of my time have been Torres, Suarez and Sturridge (sadly Fowler peaked just before I started following Liverpool seriously and Owen was never great), I’ve seen each of those players do things that boggle the mind and made me purr but Salah has yet to elicit that reaction in me despite scoring enough goals to put them all to shame. Is it because he plays the game more simply and his style is less aesthetic? Maybe I want to be astonished and he’s made goal scoring look so easy. Whatever my emotional reaction to him objectively he's been sensational, the only question is 'are we witnessing a one-season wonder or the emergence of the next great star'? I can't wait to find out.

1.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 18:11:30
Due to his mentality i seriously doubt Salah is a one season wonder, and i can't wait until he proves it.

2.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 18:42:42
Good read, PR. I always knew Salah would help us as his time at Roma was brilliant. If he had even scored 19 in all comps. like he did at Roma last season, I would have been chuffed cos that is not a total to sneeze at. But man, I did not know he would be this good. Not even good, great. All the credit should go to Klopp for improving him, putting the whole team in a position to harness Salah's qualities and playing Salah more closer to goal, something he was not doing at Roma.

The good thing as Nostradamus said, is that Salah has a fantastic attitude not just to football, but to his life. Everything he does is guided by his faith which shapes his being, recognizing the qualities of hard work, humility, kindness and love for your fellow man. I don't think he will be a one season wonder as well. Why? We will bring in players next season to play alongside him and make him better, just like Klopp did with well, Salah coming in to play alongside Bobbie, Sadio and Cou. And if he even scores 25 goals next season, I'll still be happy.

{Ed002's Note - Why give all of this creditr to Klopp - he needed persuading by the scouts to even consider buying him?}

3.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 18:54:26
That is what a scout is about, seeing what a manager maybe doesn't because he has watched the player more often then the manager might have done
Im sure back in the days of the greatest scout ever Geoff Twentyman he would have had to do the same with the managers he scouted for
The manager get the player and moulds them into his team and give the the right tactics to carry out to make them a success personally and team wise imo so Klopp and the scouts or Michael Edward or whoever all deserve credit.

{Ed002's Note - Everyone is giving all of the credit to Klopp - it is nonsense.}

4.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:14:52
Klopp deserves the credit for giving him the freedom to play in the role he is playing. why didn't salah score 28 goals in an inferior lge in italy.

5.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:22:18
I have stated that I thought salahs goals would dry up about a month ago I was of the opinion he might be a 1 season wonder.
The feller is beating all expectations. I hope he can continue for at least another season. Really hope he picks up player of the year award.

6.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:26:42
Spot on, Fruitba. Ed02, I gave Klopp all the credit for putting the team in a position to harness Salah's talent. After all, he is the one that is paid to get the best out of the players he himself agreed in some way to allow to come here cos he could have stood his ground and said no and Salah would not be here. He gets credit for actually listening and deferring to his scouts instead of making it about himself cos there is a manager not too far from LFC, who makes everything all about himself.

7.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:29:41
Im giving equal credit. klopp and salah work well together. Can you imagine salah in mourinho's team. He'd prob still be playing left back replacing luke shaw.

8.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:43:49
the team have done a great job. Do we really need to give all the credit in one direction? Klopp has openly said himself what happened, he's been frank about it and it worked out. isn't that a good thing from Klopp? and scouts obviously did their job. so full credit to the team!

9.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 19:36:49
Sorry ed002, but Klopp may not have wanted him as much as Brandt and may have needed pursuading but he is not only in charge of recruitment he's also in charge of coaching players, and I think it would be very naive to think his coaching and man management hasn't improved Salah. Firstly he's put him further up the field and requested he goes for goals more than create them. Whereas in previous teams he's been coached to play more wide and think to create first and score second. Of course the majority of credit goes to the player as it is upto him to make good of his chance and to showcase his talents. But as an example if we had Brendon Rodgers in charge he could have easily played him as a wing back and completely restricted him, so I'd happily argue Klopp deserves credit and it's not nonsense at all.

{Ed002's Note - He is not in charge of recruitment.}

10.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:23:19
Makes a change for Salah to get credit he deserves on this forum. I hope he will become a Liverpool great. He is an improving player each year so no reason he can't continue this level.

He is playing with a poor midfield so as the midfield will hopefully improve next season he will look even better.

No Salah take a bow son.

Ed002 I take your point a bit of good luck has come our way.

{Ed002's Note - No, it is not good luck he is playing the best he ever has. It is the Klopp “blowsiest” who really don’t just get it.}

11.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:45:19
I meant good luck we have Salah and not Brandt etc. We somehow ended up with the best option so all is good for me.

12.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:48:17
I personally think when you get to the levels Salah has this season it is pretty much down to the player and his skill and focus to want to succeed.

I do think out formation and how we set up lends us to his style but hats off to the guy. I really hope he wins something with us.

As for Klopp he's on the right track, we are playing some of the best football in a while. Next transfer window is a big one for us in my opinion. Keep our front three and strengthen our midfield and we should see ourselves with a title challenge which is all you can really ask for as a fan. Just hope for non of the antics from a few windows back with the tapping up etc. But with Ed002 saying he's not looking after recruitment that will hopefully be a thing of a past for the players involved sake at least.

But for now let's just enjoy some of the football we are getting to see due to Salah playing at the levels he is. Hopefully he can continue to end of the season the guy genuinely seems like a great guy it's great seeing the lads playing with a smile on there faces when results like watford come in.

13.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:51:23
Ed002 you've just corrected one mistake in my post and ignored my actual point. I expect that from narrow minded posters but not from you. I only mentioned Klopp being in charge of recruitment because you said he needed persuading to recruit him. I always appreciate your insight it's second to none when it comes to general football knowledge but if you can't see that Klopp deserves some credit for Salahs form, especially after ignoring the valid points I've made, I sense this is a pointless debate with you as you don't understand the role of a coach and the positive effects man management can have.
Cheers.

{Ed002's Note - Salah’s form is down largely to the player - sadly some folks dismiss that and say it is all down to Klopp.}

14.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:54:30
The Grinch, hope you get another movie soon Eds2.

15.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 20:56:27
That's funny Ed02 - you seemed to be all over Klopp with the signing of Karius (when he was playing badly) - now you're changing your tune over a player that's been excellent, saying Salah wasn't a Klopp signing.

Funny that? Would never have guessed you would have a dig at Klopp?

Your disdain for Klopp is remarkable - I can't quite work it out. Such a bitter man on times.

{Ed002's Note - I rather doubt that I was ever all over a player and I have nothing but good stuff to say about Salah. But clearly you are no more than an ignorant fuckwit that knows nothing about the game, The players nor Klopp and want to somehow blame me.}

16.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 21:14:49
Salah does have a bag of tricks to bamboozle defenders, he out the Watford centre back on his bum and what about the goal against spurs?

17.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 23:01:52
All credit to klopp on Salah! I don’t known who get the credit for Mignolet, Lovren and Markovic 😆.

18.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 21:38:22
The reasons are simple in my opinion, he has extreme motivation to become the best player in the world. He has improved literally every single season since his move to europe. He trains extra hours, he does what he has to do to attract the interest of Real Madrid to win the biggest trophies and to become the world's best player. Sadly we are nothing but a feeder club to Madrid and Barca. It breaks my heart to say that.

I don't think we will ever reach the heights of f. eks Manchester City because we are simply not prepared to pay even close to what players of Salah's caliber earn elsewhere. I know this post will get mad hate but its the sad truth about our current situation. If he stays another season it will be a small miracle, because well yeah, i can't see the club rejecting world record fee bids for a record breaking super star! PSG are sniffing around as well by the way.

I hope we finally take a stand of some sort and show we really want to win trophies and compete with the best regularly and prove all my words nothing but mad ramblings. If he stays one more sesason i still think he will eventually move in the summr of 2019. I just think its enivitable due to our current and never ending ''transition''

The only way we will keep him as long as we want is winning the Champions League this or next season or the Premier league next season and doubling his current wages. He is that hungry for success, his childhood ambition is to become the best African player of all time and to earn so much that he can give a lot of it away to help those in need in Egypt. let's hope and pray that success is around the corner for Liverpool because i am tired of all the best players leaving the PL in general and Liverpool specifically.

19.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 22:02:17
I don't know who to thank for Salah been as good as he's been (I don't find it important) all I know is, I'm grateful for having such a great player, more then anybody I thank him for performing at the highest quality almost every single game.

20.) 20 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 22:22:59
Jordz I agree with you mate.

21.) 21 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 23:34:06
Salah has been an absolute phenomenon this season - what an incredible player and a huge amount has to be credited to his mix of dedication, hard work, self belief, faith and humility. As the saying goes, it takes years to become an overnight success, and how he’s behaved through it all is a massive credit to him.

What can’t be ignored however is that he’s playing among the most dangerous looking front 3 I’ve seen in a long time and in a team that’s creating a huge amount of chances per game. That takes nothing away from Salah at all, someone else wouldn't have done what he’s done with the opportunity, but Klopps part in setting the conditions to allow the team to play this way can’t be ignored either. Play him alongside a more selfish striker, or in a weaker front three that doesn’t utilize the turnover ball so effectively, and he’d still be incredible, but the conditions have to be almost perfect to do what he’s doing now.

Oh, and that doesn’t explain the goals where he puts 4 defenders on their backside. those are all him.

22.) 21 Mar 2018
20 Mar 2018 22:59:12
I agree Ed, I liken Salah to Suarez under Rodgers or Torres in his pomp. It really doesn’t matter who coaches players with god given talent like theirs, Messi and Ronaldo could play for any team and any manager, even Allardyce and Mourinho couldn’t ruin them 😋
I’m old school the managers primary role is spot talent that suits the club and style of play, Bob Paisley was a genius at it, rarely made a poor signing. Ferguson was good but he made some howlers too (admittedly it is judging him over a very long period of time, similar Wenger now) .
Sign great players with a winning mentality and tell them to go and enjoy themselves, never mind 180 page dossier, that’s my philosophy in a sentence, might put my application in for the next vacancy that crops up 😂.

23.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 00:24:28
Ed is right, there are a lot of people behind the scenes at Liverpool who work hard to find the next star player, they travel all over the world looking for talent.
Of course klopp deserves credit, for taking us from 6th place hopefulls to 2nd place contenders and possible European success, but so does the whole club, for the wonderful club they are.

I don't understand why anyone would want to leave Liverpool. I just wish Southampton had sold us van dyke in the summer instead playing games. I honestly think we would be right on city's tail and clear second or even 1st. Oh well, next season! I'm 37 and I've been saying that for 25+ years.

This is one of the best liverpool sides I've seen for a long time too.

24.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 05:44:41
I think ed is trying to point out he is playing for his move to real which he has openly enquired about. Just saying!

{Ed001's Note - I think people should stop letting Ed002 wind them up because Salah himself has credited Klopp with improving him. So yes, he has to have some of the credit for the improvement, which is nothing to do with Madrid, at all. Silly comment by you, he is not playing for a move, that is a by product of his good form not the reason. You are just saying nonsense made up by you.}

25.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 07:20:23
Yeah I thought it was a fluke for a couple of months but no. He is pure class. That goal against city and the one against spurs. Unreal.

26.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 08:02:32
Two points I'd like to make.

Of course Klopp deserves credit for where we are, simply because we consciously compare it to where we were last year or in previous years. But the credit should go simply to his "management" of the team, his strategies, his tactics, his philosophy and the execution of it by himself and the staff he manages. That includes the players too. But to say he is responsible for Salah's goals is way over the top. Klopp derves the credit for managing an environment that allows Salah to score those goals. And that's it. There's a reason the player's name is on the scoreboard after a goal, and not the manager's. The player gets maximum credit for the goal and rightly so. Has Salah improved? Definitely so. But it's still him sticking the ball inside the nets. Do Messi and Ronaldo share their Ballon d'Ors and Golden Boots (and whatever else) with their managers? They've both been managed by some of the best managers on the planet, but nobody really gives a damn about them, as long as these two are sticking those goals in.

I don't get why people are after Ed002, all the time? What's the problem? By being on this page (reading and posting), we are all fans or supporters of LFC. And consequently, we have certain inbuilt biases that will always show up in some way or another. Ed002 on the other hand is a moderator and a person who provides valuable transfer rumours and information (that we all hunger for voraciously) . He does NOT need to share our pro LFC attitude and biases. And he has said a few times that he supports Chelsea (and maybe some other teams - I don't remember) . What's wrong with that? For me, he is mostly even and unbiased with his short pithy replies. People interpret them as anti-LFC or anti anything because they don't match our expectations. Sure, he plays mind games, because he knows how to do it and probably loves doing it with LFC supporters. You let yourself be had, when you fall for them. Ed001 is clearly pro LFC (and as co-founder of these sites he can be anything he wants) . Ed025 is pro Everton but has a pleasing style of communication (Ed025 has clearly said we are not winning the UCL. People said nothing. But if Ed002 says anything similar, the knives come out) . Ed0333 is clearly pro LFC, too.

People need to chill a bit. And sort out their perspectives. Before jumping into flashmobs. Just saying.

{Ed001's Note - well said ra. Like I said, I wish people would stop letting what Ed002 says wind them up. They read too much into it and just can't handle a view that isn't biased. Disagree with him by all means, but there is no need for the ridiculous abuse he gets just because he is not saying what we all want to hear.}

27.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 08:13:46
Thanks Ed.

{Ed001's Note - welcome mate. Nice to read a reasonable and thought out view.}

28.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 08:27:05
Very well said ra1969.

29.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 09:34:39
I do remember Fowler at his pomp, and what Salah's been able to do is combine Fowler's brain with Owen's (early) pace.

What his did to Watford twice, once when Bitros ended up on his backside, and once when he took out 4-5 defenders with a change of direction and pace was utterly bamboozling!

Combine that with the goal (I don't remember who against) where he took about 5 touches (including a little header) in front of the keeper and defender to guide the ball into a (then) empty net is just incredible.

And then look at the power shots from the edge of the area.

A complete forward this seasons, and hopefully for many more to come.

P.s. I don't care who gives or takes credit, I'm just glad he's here and playing like he is!

30.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 10:24:46
Well said ra, never understood the abuse editors get or posters for that matter. I do though, think everyone should be prone to both praise and criticism, regardless of position or power as that's what helps us all learn and improve our understanding of the game.
Cheers.

31.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 10:19:48
I absolutely agree with you ed002, my original post clearly states Salahs form is mostly down to himself, but ignoring the impact a manager makes would also be incredibly naive, even Salah himself admitted that Klopp told him to go further up the pitch and to try and score more.
Maybe a better way of wording it is Klopp has given Salah the platform to perform to his greatest potential. And for that, he does deserve credit. I remember the days Rodgers would play Firmino out wide and Sterling at wing back and it was incredibly frustrating to watch their potentials hindered.
Cheers.

32.) 21 Mar 2018
21 Mar 2018 18:49:04
You have to have the right mix of a player working his nuts off and that player being in a good team which suits his style of play.
There’s a balance of credit due to both parties. Salah seems a very humble lad and I’m sure he recognises the contribution that Klopp, the coaches and his team mates have had in his success.