Salah, the man for the big/all occasions
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Mohamed Salah's six goals in March have earned the Liverpool forward the Premier League player of the month award for the third time this season - a new record for the competition.
The Egyptian retained the honour after half-a-dozen strikes in four appearances increased his overall league tally to 29 as he chases the golden boot in his debut Reds campaign.
Salah opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United, bagged four of Liverpool’s five – and set up the other – as Watford were thrashed at Anfield, and hit the winner against Crystal Palace on the final day of the month.
He claimed the accolade ahead of Romelu Lukaku, David Silva, Son Heung-min, Cenk Tosun and Chris Wood.
It is the first time a player has ever won the award three times in the same season.
The Egyptian retained the honour after half-a-dozen strikes in four appearances increased his overall league tally to 29 as he chases the golden boot in his debut Reds campaign.
Salah opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United, bagged four of Liverpool’s five – and set up the other – as Watford were thrashed at Anfield, and hit the winner against Crystal Palace on the final day of the month.
He claimed the accolade ahead of Romelu Lukaku, David Silva, Son Heung-min, Cenk Tosun and Chris Wood.
It is the first time a player has ever won the award three times in the same season.
[article]No sooner had Mohamed Salah crushed Manchester City's Champions League dreams this week, the messages between Liverpool and Rome went into overdrive.
Those exchanges are now likely to be put on hold with Liverpool star Salah being pitted against his former employer, Roma, in the semifinal of the Champions League.
Speaking to CNN ahead of the draw, Salah said he had already been messaging his former teammates, offering his congratulations after Roma's astonishing victory over Barcelona.
But while he holds good memories of Rome and speaks fondly of his old team, he says Liverpool were the club his friends in Italy wanted to avoid in the final four.
Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring Liverpool's first goal during the Champions League quarterfinal second Leg against Manchester City.
"They've all said: 'We don't want to play against Liverpool,'" Salah told CNN International in an exclusive interview.
"It would be nice to go back to Rome, it's my old club. I love the fans there and they love me too.
"I still talk to most of the players there. We were very close to each other and we are good friends.
"Of course, I have happy memories. We played together for two years and were fighting together in all the games. We had a good time in the dressing room. "
'Unbelievable'
Salah spent two years playing in Serie A with Roma, scoring 15 goals in 31 appearances last season before joining Liverpool last June for a then club-record fee of $49 million.
While progressing to the Champions League final is Salah's primary concern, he can't wait to see one former colleague in particular at the Serie A club.
"Totti," Salah says with a smile, referring to Francesco Totti, who retired from football last May after a career spanning 24 years at Roma, the only club he played for and where he's revered by the fans.
"He is amazing, unbelievable," says Salah. "He has everything. I love him. I have a good relationship with him, he's very nice."
Goals, goals, and more goals
While Salah may not have reached that point of adulation at Anfield quite yet, his recent exploits have led to him becoming one of the most popular players the club has seen for years.
The winger has scored 39 goals so far this campaign, 29 of those coming in the league to leave him on the brink of securing the coveted golden boot.
On Friday, the 25-year-old became the first ever player to be awarded with the Premier League player of the month award for a third time in the same season.
He has scored seven goals in his past four games in all competitions, and is determined to lead Liverpool past Roma, the team it defeated in the 1984 European Cup final.
Real Madrid, the 12-times winner, remains favorite for the competition, though its opponent, Bayern Munich, will be confident of springing a surprise after the Spanish giant only just scraped through to the last four.
But if Liverpool can overcome Roma, could it win the competition for a sixth time?
"We can, we are in the semifinal," Salah said. "I always say that we take it step-by-step but we are in the semifinal, everything can happen.
"Everyone went into the quarterfinal with this emotion that we have to win, we can do it. Now with the semifinal, it's two games to the last step."
In the semifinal first leg Liverpool will host Roma at Anfield on April 24, with the return at the Stadio Olimpico in Italy's capital on May 2.
Golden Boot
For now, though, Salah will refocus on the Premier League, and winning the coveted Golden Boot, which is awarded to the division's top scorer. Liverpool play Bournemouth on Saturday April 14.
Salah has a four-goal lead over Tottenham's Harry Kane, who has netted 25 league goals this season, while Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has 21.
Kane climbed to 25 goals after he was controversially awarded a goal in the recent 2-1 win over Stoke City after it had initially been given to teammate Christian Eriksen.
The Premier League goals accreditation panel reversed its decision on appeal after Kane claimed that Eriksen's free-kick had grazed his shoulder.
The decision was met with surprise by Salah, who tweeted: "Wooooooow really ?" after hearing the news.
"Yeah, Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero, you know I said before they are strikers, " Salah added.
"They play number nine, I play as a winger more. So it's easier for them because they're always in front of the goal, but I play as a winger.
"It's a little bit more difficult because I have to give assists. I have to give the ball up, create the chances, but they're number nines and it's easier for them."
Salah was speaking to CNN's Becky Anderson for a sport special entitled 'Mohamed Salah: Liverpool's Egyptian King,' set to be released in the build-up to the 2018 World Cup. Watch Friday's CNN World Sport at 1230 BST for the Liverpool star's thoughts on the Champions League semifinals.[/article]
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When my son was born, I was sure I wouldn’t push him towards football.
I knew I wouldn’t push him towards anything, but sometimes I thought he might even be better off without all the clutter that football brings. He would be better off without obsessing over the fitness of a full back, better off not discussing Saipan ten years later as if it happened the day before and could still be resolved, and better off not becoming mildly agitated if the league table was out of sync if all the clubs hadn’t all played the same number of games.
Yes, he could be better off without all of that. He would be better off without the aggression and the shouting and the emotional investment and the sense that he had a personal stake in this, which wasn't really a personal stake at all. Why should football make people happy or sad or angry when it has nothing to do with their lives? Why should it matter so much? Imagine the freedom? Imagine what he could do with his weekends?
I didn’t think it mattered to me like it used to do and maybe that was a good thing. It’s not cynicism, I said, but life, an awareness of all the things that matter and all the things that don't. We are standing on the brink of extinction so why would you get worked up if the side you support can’t beat Southampton at home?
#AD
For me, it’s also a job and it's hard to be as enthusiastic about, say, the Irish football team if you know you're going to be talking to Martin O’Neill at the end of a game, especially a game brought to you by Martin O’Neill.
So I said I'd be happy if he didn’t want anything to do with football. We’d be better off with the dinosaurs and the sharks and the things that usually take up our time on a Saturday morning.
And then, earlier in the season, my son stopped playing briefly, went over to the TV and pointed at one player who he said had the same hair as Victor, one of his teachers at his nursery. I told him the player’s name. That’s Mo Salah, I said. He could say Salah so we enjoyed that, but I didn’t think much of it.
This was early in the season and I thought Salah might be another player who does some nice things on the ball but never really delivers, never really gets you a goal. I’d seen this type before, easy come, easy go. It didn't matter. Mo Salah would not be detaining us long. We would not be emotionally investing in Mo Salah.
And then something else happened. My son wanted to play football or, at least, he ran furiously up and down on the spot, kicked the ball and described this as football. Then he asked if he could be a footballer and, because he could say Salah, he was Salah and I would pass the ball to him and he would kick it under the bed and that would be another goal for Mo Salah. And we’d celebrate. The celebrating, which is when he runs and jumps into my arms, is the best bit.
He would be Liverpool and he’d be Salah. One day, he wanted to be Ireland too so he asked me who he could be and I spent some time thinking about it. And I had to keep thinking for a while. “Do you want to be Shane Duffy?” I asked. Then I settled on Wes. I'll break the retirement news to him later.
My son was four last month. He hasn’t really made any choices in life, except to declare that the Suchomimus might have been the fiercest of all dinosaurs because it ate fish and meat. He might decide tomorrow he doesn’t want to play football again, or at least not want to kick a football under the bed and decide by some arbitrary measure if it’s a goal or not.
A few months ago, he started to watch football as well, at least for a few seconds, and only when he thought he could see Salah. He’d ask for Firmino too - "Is he Salah’s friend?" - and then he began to expect something. He began to ask to see Salah’s goals and he smiled and said 'Salah' every time Salah scored. And then my wife began to sit down and enjoy the look on her boy’s face every time Salah scored. And, of course, Salah kept scoring.
So our son has come to expect these goals now and we sit with him and watch them. Every time Salah scores, he smiles. And every time he smiles, Salah's goals seems to matter a little more. I don't know why, but I do know that football - all sport - is not just about escape, it is about who you escape with and who you experience joy with. And sometimes you can lose that joy because the people you escaped with aren't around anymore and maybe then it matters less.
So now it seems personal and now we are invested again. When Salah plays, I want to tell my son that he scored. I want to watch football with him in those moments when he's prepared to watch to see if Salah scores, before he decides his time would be better spent impersonating a Mako shark.
And maybe this will be a brief infatuation and he'll never show any interest in football, but for now, there is this extra layer of happiness, this sense that it matters like it mattered when you would catch your joy reflected in the face of your own father when he saw your reaction to a result.
So you come back from Manchester on Wednesday and he asks you where you’ve been and you tell him. And you ask him does he know who scored in the game and he says, with a smile growing on his face, because he's sure he’s got the right answer, “Salah”.
That’s right, you say, Salah scored and this strange feeling, once familiar, washes over you.
And he says, almost bored now, “Salah always scores”.
He does you say, and this feeling that had gone rises in you once more and you know what’s happening. And he smiles again, because he wasn't really bored, and says again, "Salah always scores" and you know this feeling, you know where this is going. You know you have escaped with those who matter most to you.
Mo Salah always scores and just when you thought you were out, they suck you back in.
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/just-when-i-thought-i-was-out-mo-salah-pulled-me-back-in-156778
I knew I wouldn’t push him towards anything, but sometimes I thought he might even be better off without all the clutter that football brings. He would be better off without obsessing over the fitness of a full back, better off not discussing Saipan ten years later as if it happened the day before and could still be resolved, and better off not becoming mildly agitated if the league table was out of sync if all the clubs hadn’t all played the same number of games.
Yes, he could be better off without all of that. He would be better off without the aggression and the shouting and the emotional investment and the sense that he had a personal stake in this, which wasn't really a personal stake at all. Why should football make people happy or sad or angry when it has nothing to do with their lives? Why should it matter so much? Imagine the freedom? Imagine what he could do with his weekends?
I didn’t think it mattered to me like it used to do and maybe that was a good thing. It’s not cynicism, I said, but life, an awareness of all the things that matter and all the things that don't. We are standing on the brink of extinction so why would you get worked up if the side you support can’t beat Southampton at home?
#AD
For me, it’s also a job and it's hard to be as enthusiastic about, say, the Irish football team if you know you're going to be talking to Martin O’Neill at the end of a game, especially a game brought to you by Martin O’Neill.
So I said I'd be happy if he didn’t want anything to do with football. We’d be better off with the dinosaurs and the sharks and the things that usually take up our time on a Saturday morning.
And then, earlier in the season, my son stopped playing briefly, went over to the TV and pointed at one player who he said had the same hair as Victor, one of his teachers at his nursery. I told him the player’s name. That’s Mo Salah, I said. He could say Salah so we enjoyed that, but I didn’t think much of it.
This was early in the season and I thought Salah might be another player who does some nice things on the ball but never really delivers, never really gets you a goal. I’d seen this type before, easy come, easy go. It didn't matter. Mo Salah would not be detaining us long. We would not be emotionally investing in Mo Salah.
And then something else happened. My son wanted to play football or, at least, he ran furiously up and down on the spot, kicked the ball and described this as football. Then he asked if he could be a footballer and, because he could say Salah, he was Salah and I would pass the ball to him and he would kick it under the bed and that would be another goal for Mo Salah. And we’d celebrate. The celebrating, which is when he runs and jumps into my arms, is the best bit.
He would be Liverpool and he’d be Salah. One day, he wanted to be Ireland too so he asked me who he could be and I spent some time thinking about it. And I had to keep thinking for a while. “Do you want to be Shane Duffy?” I asked. Then I settled on Wes. I'll break the retirement news to him later.
My son was four last month. He hasn’t really made any choices in life, except to declare that the Suchomimus might have been the fiercest of all dinosaurs because it ate fish and meat. He might decide tomorrow he doesn’t want to play football again, or at least not want to kick a football under the bed and decide by some arbitrary measure if it’s a goal or not.
A few months ago, he started to watch football as well, at least for a few seconds, and only when he thought he could see Salah. He’d ask for Firmino too - "Is he Salah’s friend?" - and then he began to expect something. He began to ask to see Salah’s goals and he smiled and said 'Salah' every time Salah scored. And then my wife began to sit down and enjoy the look on her boy’s face every time Salah scored. And, of course, Salah kept scoring.
So our son has come to expect these goals now and we sit with him and watch them. Every time Salah scores, he smiles. And every time he smiles, Salah's goals seems to matter a little more. I don't know why, but I do know that football - all sport - is not just about escape, it is about who you escape with and who you experience joy with. And sometimes you can lose that joy because the people you escaped with aren't around anymore and maybe then it matters less.
So now it seems personal and now we are invested again. When Salah plays, I want to tell my son that he scored. I want to watch football with him in those moments when he's prepared to watch to see if Salah scores, before he decides his time would be better spent impersonating a Mako shark.
And maybe this will be a brief infatuation and he'll never show any interest in football, but for now, there is this extra layer of happiness, this sense that it matters like it mattered when you would catch your joy reflected in the face of your own father when he saw your reaction to a result.
So you come back from Manchester on Wednesday and he asks you where you’ve been and you tell him. And you ask him does he know who scored in the game and he says, with a smile growing on his face, because he's sure he’s got the right answer, “Salah”.
That’s right, you say, Salah scored and this strange feeling, once familiar, washes over you.
And he says, almost bored now, “Salah always scores”.
He does you say, and this feeling that had gone rises in you once more and you know what’s happening. And he smiles again, because he wasn't really bored, and says again, "Salah always scores" and you know this feeling, you know where this is going. You know you have escaped with those who matter most to you.
Mo Salah always scores and just when you thought you were out, they suck you back in.
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/just-when-i-thought-i-was-out-mo-salah-pulled-me-back-in-156778
Quick somebody get onto twitter and alert the FA
How do one mark Mo? Such an innocuous cross from way out - a sprint, a glancing header, a goal over a 6ft 5 goalie! Short of double mark him out of a game all the time, making the other team short of one man and being pulled all over the place because he does not stop moving about - this is a problem I am glad our team do
With at least 7 games left Salah has outscored the career best of:
Shevchenko
Inzaghi
Rooney
Aguero
van Basten
Shearer
Fowler
Eto'o
Trezeguet
van Persie
del Piero
Müller
Crespo
Batistuta
Totti
Drogba
Shevchenko
Inzaghi
Rooney
Aguero
van Basten
Shearer
Fowler
Eto'o
Trezeguet
van Persie
del Piero
Müller
Crespo
Batistuta
Totti
Drogba
Are you saying Andy Cole was better than all of those?
HA HA no mate, just highlighting what a great season he's had.
"I want to be like him too"
This is really creepy!!
http://sport360.com/article/footbal...ns-a-special-admirer-from-the-world-of-robots
This is really creepy!!
http://sport360.com/article/footbal...ns-a-special-admirer-from-the-world-of-robots
I think it will be one of those Epic comebacks for them where they turn a game from 0-1 to 2-1 and Mourinho have a bite at the press cause he is not a shit as they believe he is.
Even if you Count extra time and penalties as separate games we still shouldn't claim more than at least 6 games and possible 7 plus extra time etc.
Almost double the amount scored vs. expected goals!
I dont get it. Based on what? Algorithms? Last season?
No offence to you of course my king, but I HATE stats like this.
Isn’t it something like when you only have a keeper to beat or if you’ve gone past the goalie with either an open goal or a defender scrambling back. You’re expected to score those. Not from outside the area or beating 4 defenders inside the area. At least that’s what I think.
Its shite
Live in the now
- Status
