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Salah, the man for the big/all occasions

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Mohamed Salah: Liverpool's 'expensive risk' shows Roma what they could have had
[article]"It was like being in a Stephen King story," Maurizio Crosetti wrote in La Repubblica.

Which one he didn't specify. There are so many to choose from but Hollywood remake means 'It' comes easily to mind.


Last week at Anfield, 'It' was Mohamed Salah or, to adopt the name used by La Gazzetta dello Sport in the aftermath of Roma's 5-2 defeat by Liverpool: "Salah the ferocious".

Italy's sports press clearly enjoys a good horror film. In the player ratings Salah received nines across the board.

Il Corriere della Sera called his two goals "works of art", presumably thinking of Lucio Fontana, the founder of spatialism.

The terror Salah wrought and the awe he inspired was one theme prevalent in the papers. Another was regret.

Sometimes you don't know what you've got until it's gone. Roma knew Salah was a top player when they sold him last summer.

During his time in Serie A, the Egyptian was second in assists and chances created. He'd helped Edin Dzeko go from flop to Capocannoniere (Serie A's top goalscorer) and enjoy the most prolific season of any Roma player ever, bettering strikers like Gabriel Batistuta and Rudi Voller.

But if the Giallorossi had known Salah was "Ballon d'Or worthy" as every Italian newspaper declared him to be following last week's display, then it's impossible not to feel a bit of seller's remorse.

Neymar was supposed to be the player primed to break Messi and Ronaldo's 10-year grip on that award. In Italy, Juventus' graceful playmaker Paulo Dybala was proclaimed Serie A's biggest hope and likeliest recipient of the prize. Not Salah.

Within the media and among fans, there is a sense of what might have been had Roma been able to tap into Salah's potential in the way Jurgen Klopp has over the last nine months.

Improvement was to be expected. Salah is still only 25 and, together with Klopp's style, the faster, looser, more anarchic Premier League seemed tailor-made for him. It was a good fit. You could project Salah would get better. But this much better?

Inter manager Luciano Spalletti was quizzed on this at Friday's pre-match news conference on Friday. Did he expect his former Roma player to become one of the best in the world?

"He makes everything look easy," Spalletti said. "Then there's the job Klopp has done. I tried all year to get him to play more centrally and he kept going wide to get the ball. It seems to me he now understands what his starting position has to be and is drawing great benefit from it."

Of course the fee Liverpool paid now appears cheap. It was made to look that way pretty quickly. Crosetti's colleague - and the doyen of Italian sportswriting - Gianni Mura penned an editorial last week entitled "Selling him for €42m was not a [good] deal".

But that wasn't the consensus at the time.

It was considered an expensive risk. John W Henry felt it was a lot of money for a player with one year left on his contract and, as The Washington Post revealed last week, Roma's president James Pallotta obligingly bought him lunch the day after Salah's transfer was completed, thinking it was the least he could do.

Salah represented a club-record windfall and with the exception of Liverpool, there weren't many other teams "banging down the door" to sign him, Pallotta told the BBC World Service.

You feel some sympathy for Roma's sporting director Monchi, who now can't do an interview without Salah's name being mentioned. At the weekend he was asked if Salah is worth €200m? "We've spoken a lot about him," Monchi replied.

It must be frustrating for the former goalkeeper. "I've explained it 300 million times," he huffed in the mixed zone at Anfield. "If we hadn't sold Salah we perhaps wouldn't be here."

Without the sale Roma would have struggled to meet their FFP obligations. The deadline to do so was 30 June, coming before the Neymar and Ousmane Dembele transfers that changed the face of the market forever. All of a sudden, player valuations went through the roof.

Monchi had actually dragged out negotiations for as long as he could. Liverpool's initial offer for Salah pre-dated his appointment last April - the wheels were already set in motion - and with the player's mind made up to leave, all that was left to do was drive as hard a bargain as possible within the time available.

In normal circumstances persuading Liverpool to up their offer from €35m to €50m [all add-ons included] would be framed a success. But the €222m PSG later stumped up for Neymar distorted perspectives.

The inflationary pressures were significant. Salah had hardly kicked a ball for Liverpool and the CIES Football Observatory was already valuing him at €88.1m. In March they reviewed that estimate in line with his extraordinary performances, adjusting it to €162.8m.

Salah has been missed in Rome. Cengiz Under and Patrik Schick have big futures and promise to become superstars but it was unrealistic to expect them to step up straightaway.

It explains why Monchi made a concerted effort to replace Salah with Riyad Mahrez, only for Leicester to dig in.

After the 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid in September, Edin Dzeko admitted he felt the Egyptian's absence. Salah set up eight goals for him last season. He would attract defenders' attention and force them back, creating space for the Bosnian and Radja Nainggolan to do damage.

Until this weekend, Roma's attack ranked fifth in Serie A with 20 fewer goals than this time last year. But Monchi's general assessment is correct.

Selling Salah and reinvesting the proceeds allowed Roma to deepen a shallow squad and break new ground in the Champions League, reaching the semis for the first time in 34 years, when the competition was known as the European Cup.

The run is worth €82m in prize money and attracted Roma's first shirt sponsor in five years, an arrangement that will bring in another €40m between now and 2021. Roma should also be back next year.

Saturday's 4-1 win against Chievo - secured with intelligent player rotation - was a big step towards qualification and the riches the Champions League has to offer.

The focus now turns to another Romantada. The Giallorossi don't need the Pope to work a miracle for them. They have done it before. It's acknowledged in a motivational message attached to the walls of the tunnel at the Stadio Olimpico: "The fact it's difficult doesn't mean it's impossible. Improbable only means that it can happen. I believe."

Let's not forget Roma beat Chelsea and Barcelona 3-0 at the Olimpico. Eusebio Di Francesco's side are still yet to concede at home in the Champions League this season.

The trouble is, Salah is used to scoring here. For him, it's like a home from home.

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Has not scored in 2 games now - I think he is finished this season. We should sell him to Real Madrid this summer and get some doe while people think he is still excellent. What do you guys think ?
 
Has not scored in 2 games now - I think he is finished this season. We should sell him to Real Madrid this summer and get some doe while people think he is still excellent. What do you guys think ?

No and hell no.
 
Has not scored in 2 games now - I think he is finished this season. We should sell him to Real Madrid this summer and get some doe while people think he is still excellent. What do you guys think ?
No, unless it's a stupid figure. Let's say RM give us £200m which will be staggered over 5 years knowing them - who would you buy that could replace Salah? Or what would you do to balance and strengthen the squad?

Heard this for the first time yesterday
 
Moron is clearly joking, guys.




I hope.

I was joking about the bit regarding not scoring in his last 2 games. But regarding the selling - I think if we lose the CL final and either/both Firminio and Salah have any desire of leaving then we should sell them both to the highest bidders in Spain/Germany/Paris. After the Coutinho saga - I have no feeling towards any of our players like I use to in the past - it was one sale too much for me. Not that I was against the sale as I knew the team would improve with a more rounded midfielder in his place as I thought most of our draws/losses were also because we played with 4 full time attacking players - which is too much for us. I was upset that another of our players wanted to go to one of the big 2 Spanish sides. I want to feel NOTHING now towards these individuals regardless of how successful their individual performances are. If the team don't win trophies with these players then clearly they don't fit the bill.

I also draw strength on this point from what Juventus used to do in the late 90's - which was repeatedly winning titles but nearly always at the end of the season or two they would sell some of their best players only to replace them with more quality. As long as we buy top quality replacements I don't have a problem - I actually think Klopp's buys have been 100% good in terms of player/price ratio and I believe he alone has improved each player by giving them roles that gets the maximum out of them. Also the way we play I don't think certain players have the stamina or resolve to last more than 2 seasons with us under Klopp.

I want Can to go, I want Lallana to go, I want Sturridge out - I really can't fucking stand the sight of any of them.
 
"what Juventus used to do in the late 90's - which was repeatedly winning titles but nearly always at the end of the season or two they would sell some of their best players only to replace them with more quality."

You need to win the titles first, you fucking moron, moron.
 
"what Juventus used to do in the late 90's - which was repeatedly winning titles but nearly always at the end of the season or two they would sell some of their best players only to replace them with more quality."

You need to win the titles first, you fucking moron, moron.
Ha ha... thought that may touch a nerve. Its a bit different in England but you are a bit thick to realize this ... the most we can hope for at this club is to be at least CL contenders each season and win a cup. If the players we have cannot do it then we need to keep changing them until something works. New fresh blood plus lots of cash coming in. The core players are a handfull. I am sure you would be the first to show Firminio the door if he ever had his head turned by another club.
 
Mohamed Salah believes this is the start of a golden era for Liverpool as he declared: "I'm going nowhere."
The 43-goal top scorer dismissed speculation about his future after collecting two gongs at the Liverpool Players' Awards at Anfield.
Salah is relishing the prospect of helping the Reds secure a top-four Premier League finish against Brighton on Sunday before the attention turns to the Champions League final with Real Madrid on May 26.
The 25-year-old says he's excited about what this young team will go on to achieve with Jurgen Klopp at the helm and he intends to stick around.
"I'm very happy here, I'm very happy and everything is fine," Salah said.
"We have two games now starting with a game on Sunday. It's a very important game and then the Champions League final but I'm very happy here.
"Of course I have got ambitions for the future with Liverpool. As you can see we had a great season and now we are in the Champions League final and everyone is excited.
 
Stuck £50 on him to score at any point in the champions league final today
 
MOHAMED SALAH
Awards


  • Premier League Player of the Month
2018, 2018

  • African Player of the Year
2018

  • PFA Players' Player of the Year
2018

  • PFA Team of the Year
2018

  • CAF Africa’s finest XI
2018

  • FWA Footballer of the Year
2018

  • BBC African Footballer of the year
2017

  • Premier League Player of the season
2018

  • Premier League Golden boot winner
2018

  • Premier League goals per season record (32)
2018
 
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