26 Apr 2018 10:04:49
There's one thing I don't think anyone mentioned about Tuesday which I'd like to highlight. Everyone knows what Salah does, he's most dangerous when he's on the right side of the area, takes a touch to create a yard of space and curls the ball into the far corner with his left foot. His first goal was the perfect example of it. There nothing complicated about it so why is it so hard to stop? For the first goal the defender didn't get close enough to block it, shouldn't he just closed down the space he knew Salah was going to move to?

The answer to why you can't get that close was highlighted by Firmino's first goal. Once again Salah had the ball on the right of the area. This time the defender closed down his left foot. Salah's response? To cut inside the defender onto his right to square it for Bobby.

There nothing complicated about what Salah does but it's simple football played perfectly and no one can get near him.


1.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 10:37:36
Can't underestimate the influence of firmino and mane as Well, the runs they make give salah options which makes it so hard to defend against. Wijinaldum made some great late runs on Tuesday as Well, defenders don't know when to press or sit off. Our quality of football atm is superb when we are at our best!


2.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 10:40:30
Putney, I do enjoy your posts, this is an excellent critique.

If you are still in Putney, do you know the Bricklayers Arms in Waterman Street?


3.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 10:52:51
First two posts are spot on.
Once Salah is in the penalty area he is near on unplayable as he has the ability to go either way
The runs and space Mane and Firmino make are so unjustified at times.
I call it the flick of birds, once one goes they all do.
If Mane or Salah make a run, Firmino and the other side player anticipate a shot on target or to be found in the box.

Same as the defenders, if Mane runs down the area to the left as we play forward, automatically the centre back will pull over to cover the space after the right back, in turn the other centre back will then come in to pick up the space Firmino will find and the left back will close the gap to the the second Centre back. With the pace that we attack there caught of position and can’t recover.

It is quality football.


4.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 11:20:57
Salah can, and often does, cut inside as well as going for the far corner curler. Because of his ability to do this, and do this with absolute lightning pace, it makes it very difficult for defenders to predict his movements and intentions. They will sometimes read it, but Salah is a clever player, and he will try to keep opposition guessing, and due to his pace and touch etc etc he is simply very difficult to stop.

As others have mentioned the movement, vision, pace and threat from others really means defenders cannot just double up on Salah as it will leave glaring spaces for the others. The big key is runners from midfield, they can help swarm and distract the opposition and create space for our front 3 - Wijinaldum did this to devastating effect against Roma - he needs to do it more often.


5.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 11:51:53
I think my favourite part of the three is when we're in trouble, a long ball over the top is so easy, if it's good mane or Salah will get there. If the defender wins the header they are strong enough to not make it easy and most of the time, guess whose there to pick up the loose ball, Bobby! He's also strong and has the knack of playing it at the right time, so he is effectively running at the back four with Salah and mane ahead of him, and again their runs are so good it's hard to stop.


6.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 12:13:47
Kinda like Arjen Robben, everyone knows he wants to cut in to shoot with his left foot and yet nobody seems to know how to deal with him.


7.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 13:14:27
Ritters, I could almost fall out of my window into its beer garden. Lovely little pub.


8.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 13:46:11
Salah is easy to stop, that's the reality. The problem is, the way to stop him is to put three players on him so he 1) can't cut left, b) can't just run past you and c) can't fool you by cutting right and sending in the low cross. You'll stop him 90% of the time if you do.

Of course, if you put 3 players on him you've already sacrificed your hopes of scoring because at least one of those 3 needs to be a midfielder, so you'll be light in the midfield and drop your attackers in to cover that gap. And as the other two will probably be defenders, you've also left Firmino and Mane 1vs1 with your remaining defense. So well done for stopping Salah, but you're still going to concede several times!

In other words, he's so hard to stop because football is a team sport and his team are so leathal that no-one can afford to give him the focus required to stop him.


9.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 14:21:28
Knowing what a player is going to do and having the ability to stop it are two different things.

Sometimes a player is that good you just can't stop them. Messi has been doing it for nearly 10 yrs and luckily for us Salah is getting to level - he's just too good for them!


10.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 15:46:00
I play 5 a side and there is a very good player that we play against who scores for fun, he has trouble with his weight but otherwise I think he’d be pro and trust me, I know exactly what he’s going to do every time but stopping him doing it is all down to speed of thought and coordination, he’s simply faster than most. Salah is the fastest on the planet, along with Messi.


11.) 26 Apr 2018
26 Apr 2018 18:45:25
All top posts, lads. One more thing I would add is practice, repetition and all the work done on the training field. Let's be very clear. Our front 3 (and LFC as a whole) make scoring goals look so damn easy, it's astonishing. I mean, we are not playing against schoolboys' clubs or a bunch of mugs in the PL and CL. We are going against the very best footballers the world has to offer at the highest level and making them look like complete mugs. Imaging, we put 5 past a team in the CL semi final. THE CL SEMI FINAL. And we made it look easy.

IMO, the reason why it looks easy is due to all the work done on the training pitch. The story is that Klopp's training sessions are quite intense in all phases and every detail is not left untouched. As for Salah, he is able to do that move that brought the first goal cos well, he prolly practices that same move countless times during the week. In the NFL, they say "You practice it so much that you can no longer get it wrong". That is what we are seeing here, IMO. In fact, I saw a youtube video where during the warm-up before the game, he was practising that same shot one of which hit underneath the upright. I wonder what happened when he hit that same shot during the game?


12.) 27 Apr 2018
27 Apr 2018 03:02:33
Agreed BRover. Watching the replay of Salah's first goal, I noticed that not once did he actually look at the goal before he made the shot to avoid telegraphing his intention, which made it much harder for the defender and goalkeeper to predict his next move. So basically, he managed to hit top corner with just his peripheral vision, which is amazing and could only have been done with a lot of hard work on the training ground.

His second goal also looked so easy, but effectively was the product of a run and through pass timed to perfection. He had faked to go to the right of the defender's shoulder, and once the defender adjusted slightly thinking to cut him off, Salah blindsided him and cut in centrally, and with his speed there was no catching him. Firmino also timed his release of the ball perfectly. Such a joy to watch it again and again.


13.) 27 Apr 2018
27 Apr 2018 08:53:37
Spot on, Heroin. You got my drift. Salah and Bobbie have prolly practiced that same move a thousand times hence they both knew waht to do. Also, you are right that Salah did not even look when he took the shot cos well, he has practiced that move over and over again, it's almost second nature cos that is not the only game he has scored like that. He did the same thing vs Saints and Neverton as well. Like I said, "You practice it so much, to the point that you can no longer get it wrong". That is what we are witnessing here.