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Will the real Mo Salah please stand up?

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LeTallecWiz

Doos
Honorary Member
He's been a decent, mostly average, player since AFCON.
We gave him the contract of a player who should be a dominating player every single game.
Is this the reality of a team that can no longer cater to his talent due to various variables?
Class is permanent, form temporary but we need Mo firing on all cylinders if we want to win the league.
Where do we stand on this talent?
 
He's been a decent, mostly average, player since AFCON.
We gave him the contract of a player who should be a dominating player every single game.
Is this the reality of a team that can no longer cater to his talent due to various variables?
Class is permanent, form temporary but we need Mo firing on all cylinders if we want to win the league.
Where do we stand on this talent?

Well you could say he was in the right position tonight to provide assists that led to both goals.
 
He’s fucking ace and will bang soon enough.

He's not been ace for months mate - and I'm not as fussed about the goals if he was dominating the right flank and thus, opening up the pitch more for diaz & nunez.
I just think something is up ... Hopefully you're right but I'm concerned.
 
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Loads on here complain about not investing in the squad. Then we give Salah’s prick of an agent MILLIONS in commission, pay his client MILLIONS in a signing on fee PLUS £300-350k/week for that fucking garbage.

Should’ve sold him for mega money and bought in talent.
 
He's had a dismal 2022 performance wise for Mo - above average for others - 10 goals in about 28 games.
 
Salah is human.

Fans too quick to question and come to conclusions. No player can be world class from day 1 of signing to day end of contract (whenever that may be).

The guy played a pivotal part in both the goals today but because he’s not scoring back to back hattricks like 1 other person I know let’s all jump on his back and put him down.
 
I can't be arsed saying the same thing over and over again, but I said it was a mistake to sign him up again if we could have got a wodge for him. It's even dumber since we aren't willing to invest in the squad. All that said, he's been even worse than I had imagined. I thought a bit of a rest would see him get that little bit of pace back for a few games, but no. He will score more when we play better, and create loads of chances, and especially when Trent is on song, because that's what he's always been. He's not going to turn games when we are shit. He's mostly not a game changer. He's not some phenomenon. He's a shitter version of himself, and he's been on a team that was a giant fluffer for his ego. If he was better he could adapt and play centrally, but he isn't. We need every bit of his diminishing form, but don't fool yourself, it won't prove good value.
 
Salahs game is about running into space, isolating a defender 1v1 and taking them on. He's not a 6 yard box poacher.

If we keep giving teams a 1 goal headstart so they can sit deep and defend a lead with 11 men then we really aren't going to get much out of him.
Hes also becoming isolated by Trent wandering infield and leaving him 1v2 or 1v3 on the right hand side of the pitch.
 
I think opposition teams have sussed him out and know how to defend against him.

It's not rocket science tbh, if you stick a player like him out on the RW, his only choices are to either beat the defender for speed, but that would require us to release the ball early to him to give him space to run onto, but if defenders sit a little bit deeper, you limit his space, so he has to rely more on his explosive turn of pace and his dribbling skills to beat them, but both of them have dropped a notch since Afcon. His other option is to cut into the centre, and unleash that lethal left foot of his, but how many times have you seen Mo done this last season ? I can only think of a few. Defenders know when he cuts in, he'll try to shoot on his left, and it's not difficult to anticipate and defend against that.

So his only other option left, if all of the above fail, is to try to chip/cross the ball when he cuts into the middle, or play the overlapping fullback or whoever, on his right, onside. Which is probably why you're seeing Mo being more of a provider in the last few games. It could also be down to a change of tactics to accommodate Nunez or it could also be because Mo realizes his territory on the flanks, which he has dominated for years, is getting more congested and tighter, and he's being told to switch things up, instead of trying to beat his man every single time.

I can think of a few tactical changes to create more space for Mo to run and hopefully get back to his scoring best, but that would also mean focusing the team's play on one player, and i dont think Klopp and co wants that long-term. One thing noticeable is that Mo plays better when Mane was around, because Mane's runs on the left, creates space for Mo too, especially when we counter attack with speed. Defenders are forced to spread wide to cover both flanks. We're hoping Diaz will do the same too, but he doesn't really run the same lines like Mane (yet) and you can see he's clearly being told to occupy the same sections of the pitch like Mane, so maybe he's still learning but i've yet to see the same wavelength and partnership that Mo and Mane once had.

Another thing i can think of, is to get a midfielder - not just any midfielder, but someone who can dribble, and buy you that extra 1-2 secs, one who can dictate the tempo of the game comfortably. Someone like a Viera. Players like these open up spaces all over the pitch, which Mo thrives on. That's probably why i think Klopp finds Jude a very attractive option because he fits that mold.
 
I can't be arsed saying the same thing over and over again, but I said it was a mistake to sign him up again if we could have got a wodge for him. It's even dumber since we aren't willing to invest in the squad. All that said, he's been even worse than I had imagined. I thought a bit of a rest would see him get that little bit of pace back for a few games, but no. He will score more when we play better, and create loads of chances, and especially when Trent is on song, because that's what he's always been. He's not going to turn games when we are shit. He's mostly not a game changer. He's not some phenomenon. He's a shitter version of himself, and he's been on a team that was a giant fluffer for his ego. If he was better he could adapt and play centrally, but he isn't. We need every bit of his diminishing form, but don't fool yourself, it won't prove good value.

We got €35m for Mané in the same circumstances, we wouldn't have gotten the sort of money for Salah that would allow us to go out and buy a world class forward. You can argue we gave him too good a contract, in fact you could argue that for a number of players. But we weren't going to get a Coutinho like fee to rebuild the team.
 
Salahs game is about running into space, isolating a defender 1v1 and taking them on. He's not a 6 yard box poacher.

If we keep giving teams a 1 goal headstart so they can sit deep and defend a lead with 11 men then we really aren't going to get much out of him.
Hes also becoming isolated by Trent wandering infield and leaving him 1v2 or 1v3 on the right hand side of the pitch.

This.

Good observation about Trent wandering infield, and leaving Mo out-marked on the flanks.

Opposition teams are trying to nullify Mo's threat by ganging up on him and bully him off the ball. They've been doing this last season, doesn't take a genius to see this. Yet, he ended up as the league's 2nd best top scorer.

If we could just figure out how to free up space for Mo, he'll be back to his best again. I'm pretty sure about that. The Nunez-Mo partnership will be interesting to watch, i reckon.
 
Nunez will help draw more attention from CBs, but I think giving Mo some time in the middle would have same impact it had on Mané.

Not where we really want to use them, but harder to double team and mark out of the game than out wide, sometimes. He would need an Elliott or Carvalho playing behind to get the most out of him there.
 
I'm not so sure about playing Mo centrally. Don't think he has the finesse and upper body strength like Mane does, plus it will be a bit of a waste of his talents. Still think he's most effective as a wing-forward.

Take City for example. Haaland isn't your archetypal CF - he can play the battering ram role, but is equally mobile, fast and clever in timing his runs and running into spaces. When he does that well, he creates a lot of space for Foden and Alvarez, both wing-forwards.

We have a slightly similar setup too, in Nunez, Mo and Diaz.

Here's hoping Nunez becomes better than Haaland, and Mo returns to his best.
 
Salahs game is about running into space, isolating a defender 1v1 and taking them on. He's not a 6 yard box poacher.

If we keep giving teams a 1 goal headstart so they can sit deep and defend a lead with 11 men then we really aren't going to get much out of him.
Hes also becoming isolated by Trent wandering infield and leaving him 1v2 or 1v3 on the right hand side of the pitch.

This is so true. It's fair to say he hasn't been at his best but we're not setting him up to succeed either.

At his wage, you expect at least once or twice per game for him to create something out of nothing but for that sustained excellence we need to get him the ball in space.
 
It feels like he has used up all of his powers in the two magic goals last season - one against City and the one next week. Hasn't been the same since then.
 
This is so true. It's fair to say he hasn't been at his best but we're not setting him up to succeed either.

At his wage, you expect at least once or twice per game for him to create something out of nothing but for that sustained excellence we need to get him the ball in space.
On his salary you'd think the club would be playing to his strengths ... not Trents ! It worked in previous seasons, whereas allowing Trent to track infield is having a negative affect on both of them.
 
I wonder how much the decision to renew his deal has impacted our activity this summer. I’m sure those inside the club would’ve had contingency plans on him not signing and being sold.
 
I wonder how much the decision to renew his deal has impacted our activity this summer. I’m sure those inside the club would’ve had contingency plans on him not signing and being sold.

Not a lot I would think.
He renewed at the start of summer, we only had more than 6 weeks to act…
A bit wishful to assume adding another 100k or soto wages would mean we can’t another midfielder or someone else. How much is that over a year? 20 million extra or offloading an Origi, Ox or Milner off our wage bill which we did.

I don’t think the club had a lot of choice other than extending his contract, we increased his value by another 50m and was the desired priority. We can’t fault for FSG for a sensible decision.

Theres about 7 players currently playing worse than Salah this season, his wages now are making him a constant easy target which is predictable every game.
However, at least he is always fit and available. How much do our constantly unfit players costing in wages?
 
That contract will contain agent and signing on fees and (finger in air) that could be £20 million. I’ve always felt that money will piss off a lot of players in the squad who signed last year. More guessing is they asked more parity with those at other clubs but were told there’s no extra money. Then they give that to Mo.
 
That contract will contain agent and signing on fees and (finger in air) that could be £20 million. I’ve always felt that money will piss off a lot of players in the squad who signed last year. More guessing is they asked more parity with those at other clubs but were told there’s no extra money. Then they give that to Mo.

I don’t see it mate.
Not sure why it would piss of other players, they shouldn’t have extended then when they sat with management while renewing.

We offloaded a few players off our books this season and brought in a few but less in numbers who are younger so presumably on less wages. If that’s Trent’s and VVD’s reason for their shite form then says a lot about their own personality. Trent needs to get back to basics and they need a strong word.

On Salah’s form, we may have to face facts that the real Salah is this. Impactful always but not the goal scorer of 5 yrs ago. As Trump says, the guy is still fighting like hell but not scoring. A rest would do him good and the Dec rest this year may do him good.

Remember, if we cash in now, it should 80m plus while it was possibly half that 2 months ago. Salah wise we are protected as a club.

The reason I presume we haven’t spent more is same with FSG every year, we are run as a company within a larher group under a strict budget. We are no more important to FSG than company X they own, we may as fans think we deserve to be but in 10th year of their ownership or whatever, it’s not going to change. A well run steady business.
 
On his salary you'd think the club would be playing to his strengths ... not Trents ! It worked in previous seasons, whereas allowing Trent to track infield is having a negative affect on both of them.

Agree completely. We have arguably the best right wing-forward in the world and arguably among the best right backs (at least going forward) in the world and playing in a manner that isn't getting the best out of either of them. Which is in stark contrast to previous seasons.

We saw elements of this last year but it's hard to argue with the team's results. This year is a different story, however.
 
Rocket science is not that easy mmmkay.
You said it's NOT rocket science - I agreed!

Therefore why has it taken them 5 yrs, as you stated, to suss him out? Answer : there is no such thing as sussing him out. Everyone knew how he played from halfway through Season 1, he's not just suddenly become a known entity after 5 yrs.

You statements are a little contradictory, on the one hand you emphasis how many he scored last season and are supportive but then go on to say he's been sussed out. However in general we seem to be in agreement - that most issues stem from a tactical change in how we play down the right.

Any downturn in Salah's contribution can be put down to form or tactical changes in our team - I happen to think it's a combination and that he'll come good again sooner rather than later.
 
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