We need to talk about Salah

[FoxForceFive]

So common consensus is he needs either rest or a goal or two.

Thing is, he knows scoring will help him, & that's obv why he's so 'greedy' strikers playing below their best are always selfish cos they need those goals to find their form.

Sure, it's frustrating, but I'll always live with 'selfish' strikers cos the best invariably are.

 

[Frogfish]

If he didn't fuck up so badly last night we wouldn't have scored an injury time winner, I wouldn't have fallen down three sets of seats celebrating, wouldn't have stayed out till two in the morning, wouldn't feel like boiled shite right now. He can fuck right off.

Putting yourself before the team again eh !

 

[mark1975]

Yeah, so I missed the arms aloft and obviously as pointed out, it's unlikely a player would be pissed off at his own team winning, it just seemed odd behaviour. In the context of his own frustrations though, I guess it makes sense.

He's looked an unhappy figure since the end of last season though, which I guess is reason enough to be concerned, given we've been stung before. No doubt he will get his shit together sooner rather than later though. Hopefully he and we win something this season.

 

[Portly]

Salah's going through a spell of poor form. Probably a reaction to all the hype of last season and his problem with image rights in Egypt.

In the absence of any better information, I think Klopp needs to keep selecting him and hope that a couple of goals will put Salah on the right track.

When Shaqiri replaced him last night, I noticed that he seemed to be blissfully unaware of the concept of offside.

 

[Hades]

There are worrying signs but it's too early to write him off. We seem to be more on the front foot this season and there aren't as many quick long balls in behind, his bread and butter. He might have to become more of a creator if he wants to flourish. Wait and see.

 

[RedStar]

I dont think hes still injured and I dont think hes been found out. Looks like hes lacking in confidence, you could see it clear as day in the Spurs match when he latched onto a poor pass and ran clean through, with only the keeper to beat he hit an aimless shot straight down the middle. Rather than pick his spot and trust himself to beat the keeper he just hit it in hope that the keeper would go early. Thats a telltale sign for a striker lacking confidence.

The situation with the Egyptian FA has clearly weighed on his mind and I think it would do him no harm to rest for the Southampton and Chelsea games. Take the pressure off and let him regroup, we need him for the Chelsea, Napoli, City games and I dont think hes in the right frame of mind for that now.

 

[gkmacca]

It might be worth trying him for one game on the left, just as a one-off. For one thing, it would mess up the opposition in terms of who expects to pick him up, and for another, as with Mane last season, it'll focus his mind and make him think a bit. They're a fluid forward line anyway, so he wouldn't be stuck on that side, but being moved around a bit sometimes is all a player needs to blow away the cobwebs and find their discipline.

 

[doctor_mac]

When Shaqiri replaced him last night, I noticed that he seemed to be blissfully unaware of the concept of offside.

I disagree. He was playing with the off side line but was constantly making little runs in behind that Gini and Robbo repeatedly chose to ignore. If you make a run behind you will invariably go off side, it is down to the passer to catch your run in time. I loved his movement.

 

[juniormember]

I disagree. He was playing with the off side line but was constantly making little runs in behind that Gini and Robbo repeatedly chose to ignore. If you make a run behind you will invariably go off side, it is down to the passer to catch your run in time. I loved his movement.

Absolutely agree. I love the hunger and urgency in attacking play that he shows.

 

[ILD]

There are worrying signs but it's too early to write him off. We seem to be more on the front foot this season and there aren't as many quick long balls in behind, his bread and butter. He might have to become more of a creator if he wants to flourish. Wait and see.

I don't think anyone is remotely close to writing him off. That would be absurd.
I don't even think he played that poorly. He linked up well, he had a goal disallowed and we won the game. Pity the 'water bottle' is taking up so much coverage but the media will always look to create a story.

 

[My_Blood_Bleeds_Red]

Errm Mane early last season anyone ? Hello ?

He probably needs the same treatment like Mane had last season. Dropped/rested/whatever for a few matches and slowly, gradually eased back to form.

Klopp and co know what they're doing. Plus we are winning. Calm down guys.

 

[Woland]

Yeah, this make or break run of games is going terribly so far. Can't see how we're supposed to twat Southampton while we're only averaging about three goals a match.

 

[leftpeg]

We'd be nuts to drop or rest Salah. He needs a goal or two and it's only a question of time before he gets them. Then he'll be flying. He wasn't our best player last night by any means but he was better than many are making out on here.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

My memory isn't the best but didn't he start last season a bit slow, missing easy chances?

 

[juniormember]

My memory isn't the best but didn't he start last season a bit slow, missing easy chances?

He missed loads, needing about 3-4 decent chances before he’d score. But then he’d keep getting into positions where he actually could get a ridiculous number of shots so he was averaging a good return from the start. He became a lot more clinical after the first several games

 

[Hansern]

He did score last night but it wasnt given.
The goal would probably not have been ruled out in the league.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Errm Mane early last season anyone ? Hello ?

He probably needs the same treatment like Mane had last season. Dropped/rested/whatever for a few matches and slowly, gradually eased back to form.

Klopp and co know what they're doing. Plus we are winning. Calm down guys.

Mane was our man of the match in the first three game last year.

 

[HC]

He didn't look great against a world xi esque team? Bothered, let's see how fucking Southampton cope with him*

*Apologies in advance for the bad JuJu

 

[Judge Jules]

Absolutely agree. I love the hunger and urgency in attacking play that he shows.

He was also geeing the crowd up. The guy shows every sign of loving it here. Looking promising, and that's from someone who didn't really want him to begin with.

 

[Brizzle]

All I know is i'm putting some $$$ on a Salah hat-trick this weekend. Watch out Saints.

 

[Judge Jules]

I would love that, absolutely love it. Those c***ts are only just north of the Mancs and the blueslime on my Despise list after their gross hypocrisy over van Dijk.

 

[juniormember]

He was also geeing the crowd up. The guy shows every sign of loving it here. Looking promising, and that's from someone who didn't really want him to begin with.

Me too. Didn’t want him. Very very happy with what I’ve seen so far. Hope he gets more opportunities during this busy period.

 

[ibromurph]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed in this thread.

But do we not think the a large part of the Salah's problem early on is the loss of Coutinho. I mean, whilst he ended the season strongly without Phil, a lot of his early season success came from Phil playing on the left, Bobby through the middle and Salah on the right. He built up a head of steam and was in such a rich vein of form and confidence that Phil going went unnoticed.

But perhaps now we are noticing it. As Coutinho was considered our main man/threat at the start of the season, even though Salah was scoring most of the goals. So whilst opponents focused on shutting down a Coutinho long range special, Salah could just sneak in towards the back post.


Mane doesn't have the same vision/passing ability and thus one of Mo's primary contribution routes is gone. And he hasn't had the chance to build up confidence/momentum.

 

[JurgenKlopp]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed in this thread.

But do we not think the a large part of the Salah's problem early on is the loss of Coutinho. I mean, whilst he ended the season strongly without Phil, a lot of his early season success came from Phil playing on the left, Bobby through the middle and Salah on the right. He built up a head of steam and was in such a rich vein of form and confidence that Phil going went unnoticed.

But perhaps now we are noticing it. As Coutinho was considered our main man/threat at the start of the season, even though Salah was scoring most of the goals. So whilst opponents focused on shutting down a Coutinho long range special, Salah could just sneak in towards the back post.


Mane doesn't have the same vision/passing ability and thus one of Mo's primary contribution routes is gone. And he hasn't had the chance to build up confidence/momentum.

Nah, his early season stats are marginally worse. He was better when Phil had gone

 

[HC]

He will bag a few against Napoli and the winner against city and all will be right in the world once more

 

[Mystic]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed in this thread.

But do we not think the a large part of the Salah's problem early on is the loss of Coutinho. I mean, whilst he ended the season strongly without Phil, a lot of his early season success came from Phil playing on the left, Bobby through the middle and Salah on the right. He built up a head of steam and was in such a rich vein of form and confidence that Phil going went unnoticed.

But perhaps now we are noticing it. As Coutinho was considered our main man/threat at the start of the season, even though Salah was scoring most of the goals. So whilst opponents focused on shutting down a Coutinho long range special, Salah could just sneak in towards the back post.


Mane doesn't have the same vision/passing ability and thus one of Mo's primary contribution routes is gone. And he hasn't had the chance to build up confidence/momentum.

Nah, not for me, Salahs best form coinciding with Coutinho leaving the team. I actually think the lack of Ox, or indeed a proper attack presence in our midfield is hindering him more, hopefully with time Keita steps up to that role.

 

[juniormember]

If you look at the opportunities he creates for himself, how much involvement he has when we create very dangerous attacking moves, and also see the crazy number of score-able chances he misses, I’d say it has absolutely nothing to do with who’s playing behind him, be it Ox or Coutinho.
He’s just been very very shit with his final balls, especially shots on goal. Same as last season.
Hopefully he repeats what he did last year (missing a shit lot of chances early on but then recovering magnificently) by getting that confidence back.

 

[Judge Jules]

If there is a problem with Mo (and, as others have said, he started last season slowly as well) I wonder if part of it might be that he's maybe thinking about stuff which came instinctively to him last season, trying to hunt down his best form instead of just "letting the force be with him". I got that impression more than once in last weekend's game against the Chavs. I'm totally confident he'll deal with it though, and other teams will still have to worry about him meanwhile.

 

[manwithnoname]

I'm not sure it's easy to say that it's down to this or that player missing, but certainly having a player in the midfield who can break forward, beat a man or two to create space, and also deliver the final ball, is going to help Salah.

Milner create a lot, but most of it is from crosses and set-pieces; Henderson and Wijnaldum don't do it either.

But mostly it's because Salah isn't playing as well he did last season

 

[rurikbird]

I'm not sure it's easy to say that it's down to this or that player missing, but certainly having a player in the midfield who can break forward, beat a man or two to create space, and also deliver the final ball, is going to help Salah.

Milner create a lot, but most of it is from crosses and set-pieces; Henderson and Wijnaldum don't do it either.

But mostly it's because Salah isn't playing as well he did last season

Continuing this train of thought, perhaps it's not a coincidence that Salah's most effective games of the season so far – games against West Ham, Palace, Brighton and Saints where he scored or assisted – happened with either Keita or Shaqiri on the pitch, players who are able to create chances all by themselves, draw the attention of defenders and thus allow Salah to focus on being a poacher and finisher. Whereas in games such as PSG or Chelsea Salah himself had to be the catalyst in creating chances and maybe that extra workload contributed to his finishing being wayward.

For sure, at the peak of his form he is able to both create and score at will, but I think it definitely helps him to play with a creative midfielder. It's true that his best form coincided with Coutinho leaving last season, but let's not forget that Ox started playing well and added a goal-scoring threat from midfield around the same time. We are missing a bit of that attacking thrust while Keita is still adjusting to the team and the league, Lallana and Ox are injured and Shaqiri hasn't convinced Klopp that he offers enough defensively to play in the midfield 3.