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Will the real Mo Salah please stand up?

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We should have sold him for 40 mill and brought in Mbappe on free as stop gap till the right striker was available. Oh wait…
 
Mo would have been better taking the money else where like Mane did, quieter life and rather turning into Auba with moaning fans baying for their pound.
 
Mo would have been better taking the money else where like Mane did, quieter life and rather turning into Auba with moaning fans baying for their pound.

You think he's played well enough since AFCON?
Or you think it's Klopp / injuries / formation etc who are to blame for his isolation and inability to control/score near the clip that got him the contract?
If you want to call us moaning fans for wanting our best players to be our best players, ok - so be it.
But I'm just hoping he comes back to form because this team won't finish top 4 without him ... and then maybe, he can get what you wish for him - a nicer, quiet life with non-moaning fans at Madrid, or Paris.
 
He's stuck in a rut. That video of him after the AFCON final showed how crushing it was for him. Some time away from the spotlight might refresh him.
 
You think he's played well enough since AFCON?
Or you think it's Klopp / injuries / formation etc who are to blame for his isolation and inability to control/score near the clip that got him the contract?
If you want to call us moaning fans for wanting our best players to be our best players, ok - so be it.
But I'm just hoping he comes back to form because this team won't finish top 4 without him ... and then maybe, he can get what you wish for him - a nicer, quiet life with non-moaning fans at Madrid, or Paris.

I said before he's been not same since AFCON.
Don't take it personally now about the moaning fans comment...
This thing about fans turning on him is entirely predictable as could see it coming soon as the contract extension talk came.

I don't wish for him to leave but it would have been easier, he would have got the same money or more in middle east, or couple of other clubs.
I just don't see the constant focus on Salah, call it what you want. Best for club, best for players but if you want to focus on Salah's extra 120k a week increment being the focus on here's what bothers me more if that's the case:
  • Milner singing a new contract - gets over 100k 37yr old and now he has started every major game this season because we have become reliant on him
  • Gomez with a new contract - too relaxed and is always liable to switch off - he gets over 100k
  • Ox - why??? He gets over 100k too
  • Naby - why?? He gets over 100k too
My point is there's awful lot of players at LFC who aren't fit but take a wage whom have never contributed as much Salah over 5yrs so I'm likely to focus on them before turning on Mo.
I would prefer Mo to get a couple of games through the center but then soon as Mo went off today, we looked worse on the right.
 
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I said before he's been not same since AFCON.
Don't take it personally now about the moaning fans comment...
This thing about fans turning on him is entirely predictable as could see it coming soon as the contract extension talk came.

I don't wish for him to leave but it would have been easier, he would have got the same money or more in middle east, or couple of other clubs.
I just don't see the constant focus on Salah, call it what you want. Best for club, best for players but if you want to focus on Salah's extra 120k a week increment being the focus on here's what bothers me more if that's the case:
  • Milner singing a new contract - gets over 100k 37yr old and now he has started every major game this season because we have become reliant on him
  • Gomez with a new contract - too relaxed and is always liable to switch off - he gets over 100k
  • Ox - why??? He gets over 100k too
  • Naby - why?? He gets over 100k too
My point is there's awful lot of players at LFC who aren't fit but take a wage whom have never contributed as much Salah over 5yrs so I'm likely to focus on them before turning on Mo.
I would prefer Mo to get a couple of games through the center but then soon as Mo went off today, we looked worse on the right.

Why have we "turned" on Mo?
Hes one of our 3 most important players, if not most important, and hes been off for months.
Its very worrying because without him, I dont think we rediscover our form from last few years, and that's why he gets the heat/concern
 
Let's not be foolishly naive, he only wants to stay because the team will win trophies and he has no latin blood. Were that not the case, he'd be talking no differently to the others who came before him. Also let's not pretend these are not injection marks all over him, you can barely count them you don't even see this on UFC fighters, he just doesn't give a fuck. If memory serves he wasn't playing all that well a few months back, he's obviously juiced himself up, is now playing like fucking god, so he's not stupid, these performances and interviews will get him that contract, then he will stop injecting himself, and we'll be arguing about his form again like clowns.

One year later. Lol he doesn't give a fuck, he's making fuck you money now, whilst we're wondering what happened to his "form" like clowns.
 
I think part of Klopps way forward to reinvent the team must be to get Salah more central.
Change his position and maybe go for 2 upfront.
 
Why have we "turned" on Mo?
Hes one of our 3 most important players, if not most important, and hes been off for months.
Its very worrying because without him, I dont think we rediscover our form from last few years, and that's why he gets the heat/concern

You tell me? Easy target???
His form is off but so is about 7 other players.
He was on silly money on before and was playing well, don’t get the logic on money being the single biggest driver.
Those that say we should kept Mane, well hello? Mane told us a year ago we he wanted to bugger off a full year and a bit ago.
If Mo was the only problem then would be an easier fix and we would be where we were still winnging games post Christmas this year but it’s obvious he’s not.
 
I turned on Mo back in feb when he came out as a greedy cunt asking for £350k a week. The. His agent acting a cunt. Now he’s doing fuck all to deserve that money.

Hendo shouldn’t have got a new contract. Ox and Keita (and Firmino) needed to have been bounced out of the club a year or two ago. That’s about 400k a week for a group that shouldn’t be in the starting XI 70% of the time.
 
You tell me? Easy target???
His form is off but so is about 7 other players.
He was on silly money on before and was playing well, don’t get the logic on money being the single biggest driver.
Those that say we should kept Mane, well hello? Mane told us a year ago we he wanted to bugger off a full year and a bit ago.
If Mo was the only problem then would be an easier fix and we would be where we were still winnging games post Christmas this year but it’s obvious he’s not.

He's one of our best players mate - and he's our only goalscorer (Diaz looks like he's becoming one).
We need him to have a chance to finish top 4 ...
So it's fair that he's a target - and I don't care about the money at all. He's earned it. I care about what I see on the pitch - and I just think he looks isolated and struggling for confidence.

I am tougher on VvD than Gomez, Matip and Konate. Why? Because he's key to our defense.
He's been very average - and we need more from him too. What we need though is proper leadership - I want him at his teammates when they are fucking jogging back etc.

We oculd have kept Mane - money would have done it imo and that would have been my choice, but it's irrelevant. Klopp needs to earn his money - and find a way to ensure Salah is more involved in the box, or next year, we won't have to worry about spending to keep up with the big teams.
 
He's one of our best players mate - and he's our only goalscorer (Diaz looks like he's becoming one).
We need him to have a chance to finish top 4 ...
So it's fair that he's a target - and I don't care about the money at all. He's earned it. I care about what I see on the pitch - and I just think he looks isolated and struggling for confidence.

I am tougher on VvD than Gomez, Matip and Konate. Why? Because he's key to our defense.
He's been very average - and we need more from him too. What we need though is proper leadership - I want him at his teammates when they are fucking jogging back etc.

We oculd have kept Mane - money would have done it imo and that would have been my choice, but it's irrelevant. Klopp needs to earn his money - and find a way to ensure Salah is more involved in the box, or next year, we won't have to worry about spending to keep up with the big teams.

Currently there’s so many players off form, not trying it seems hard enough, I don’t know where to begin.
Just how much better controlled if we had 3 midfielders sitting and doing the screening? Fab looks overrun every time on a simple ball counter.

We may have to accept this season needs to just happen for FSG and management to buy the 3-4 key replacements next year.
 
Currently there’s so many players off form, not trying it seems hard enough, I don’t know where to begin.
Just how much better controlled if we had 3 midfielders sitting and doing the screening? Fab looks overrun every time on a simple ball counter.

We may have to accept this season needs to just happen for FSG and management to buy the 3-4 key replacements next year.

FSG worries me as I alluded somewhere else b/c this isn't MLB - you don't have a farm system, or a draft, or free agency.
It's harder without the CL.
 
I turned on Mo back in feb when he came out as a greedy cunt asking for £350k a week. The. His agent acting a cunt. Now he’s doing fuck all to deserve that money.

Hendo shouldn’t have got a new contract. Ox and Keita (and Firmino) needed to have been bounced out of the club a year or two ago. That’s about 400k a week for a group that shouldn’t be in the starting XI 70% of the time.

This makes me think… For all he’s done in football, Klopp never really had the experience of dealing with star players getting past their prime - at Dortmund the culling happened the “natural way” by all his best players being eaten by wolves bought off by Bayern. What he is finding out, perhaps, is that it’s extremely difficult to keep playing heavy metal football once the average squad age gets on the older side and the best players earn their biggest contract and don’t have all that much left to prove or left in the tank. It’s hardly a coincidence that our best players this season are Diaz, Elliott and Carvalho.
 
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This makes me think… For all he’s done in football, Klopp never really had the experience of dealing with star players getting past their prime - at Dortmund the culling happened the “natural way” by all his best players being eaten by wolves bought off by Bayern. What he is finding out, perhaps, is that it’s extremely difficult to keep playing heavy metal football once the average squad age gets on the older side and the best players earn their biggest contract and don’t have all that much left to prove or left in the tank. It’s hardly a coincidence that our best players this season are Diaz, Elliott and Carvalho.
Agreed, however I would add a few points.

The first being that the sound of a managers voice becomes less effective as time goes on. It's partly why clubs chop and change so readily, so that's another likely challenge Klopp is likely currently facing, even with all his man-management skills.

The second is that Klopp should not have needed to experience players aging to be able to plan for it. Maybe I'm being harsh, but the situation with injuries and player decline was entirely foreseeable. Some basic squad planning and forward thinking would have made the risks very clear. It's been discussed enough in here over the years and surely discussed enough between Edwards, Ward and Klopp. I refuse to accept they all not have the data to evidence the drop off in many of our players as time has gone on.

And as much as I hate to bring it up, what made Ferguson so effective for so long was his ruthless ability to cull players before many believed be needed to, and reinvent the squad successfully for sustained success. Compare that to us. We can't even shift the likes of Keita and Chamberlain who fans have wanted gone for years. Mane only left because he wanted to.

We've been too soft and too inactive in the market for years.
 
This makes me think… For all he’s done in football, Klopp never really had the experience of dealing with star players getting past their prime - at Dortmund the culling happened the “natural way” by all his best players being eaten by wolves bought off by Bayern. What he is finding out, perhaps, is that it’s extremely difficult to keep playing heavy metal football once the average squad age gets on the older side and the best players earn their biggest contract and don’t have all that much left to prove or left in the tank. It’s hardly a coincidence that our best players this season are Diaz, Elliott and Carvalho.

To be fair, kicking out players at the first sign of decline goes against Klopp's ethos and message of unity and working together. I have heard that Bill Shankly was a bit of a softy who liked to hold on to players because of his loyal nature. It was Uncle Bob, who was more of a ruthless operator who had a good sense of when to let players go. Klopp has to be the good cop. What we really need is a bad cop number 2, who identifies players on decline and works with the transfer committee to replace them instead of writing stupid books like intensity.
 
To be fair, kicking out players at the first sign of decline goes against Klopp's ethos and message of unity and working together. I have heard that Bill Shankly was a bit of a softy who liked to hold on to players because of his loyal nature. It was Uncle Bob, who was more of a ruthless operator who had a good sense of when to let players go. Klopp has to be the good cop. What we really need is a bad cop number 2, who identifies players on decline and works with the transfer committee to replace them instead of writing stupid books like intensity.

Exactly. I wouldn’t want Klopp to change - you need genuine loyalty and compassion to be a great teacher and he’s one of the best football teachers on the planet. But someone else needs to be the ruthless bad guy to offset those qualities - instead FSG seem to take advantage of Klopp’s optimism and love for his players in order to justify investing less and avoiding tough decisions - “well, Mr. Klopp says he can still probably unearth some hidden unfulfilled potential in Oxlade and Keita, so who are we to argue?” It’s your fucking job to argue and question and be the ruthless Yankee bosses you’re supposed to be!
 
Agreed, however I would add a few points.

The first being that the sound of a managers voice becomes less effective as time goes on. It's partly why clubs chop and change so readily, so that's another likely challenge Klopp is likely currently facing, even with all his man-management skills.
Whilst I agree with the points in your post this isn't a thing as any long-serving manager over the decades just emphasises, including Shanks (15 yrs) & Paisley (9 yrs).
From those days to this the turnover in managers is more than likely due to owners' (and increasingly fans') impatience when such large sums of money are at stake for successful clubs.
 
Exactly. I wouldn’t want Klopp to change - you need genuine loyalty and compassion to be a great teacher and he’s one of the best football teachers on the planet. But someone else needs to be the ruthless bad guy to offset those qualities - instead FSG seem to take advantage of Klopp’s optimism and love for his players in order to justify investing less and avoiding tough decisions - “well, Mr. Klopp says he can still probably unearth some hidden unfulfilled potential in Oxlade and Keita, so who are we to argue?” It’s your fucking job to argue and question and be the ruthless Yankee bosses you’re supposed to be!
Yeah sorry, big no. It's all well and good the statisticians and coaching staff in Liverpool having an influence on the playing squad but the last thing we need is interference from corporate lizards in the USA.
 
Loads of valid points on here but I dont think any decline is whats going on with Mo. He’s just turned 30 and is one if the fittest players around. No doubt that he can play heavy metal football for the rest of his contract. No doubt.

His problem, imho, is mental fatigue. Afcon, losing the CL final, the league
and just playing to many games last season with a short break prior to this season.
I cant even imagine how challenging that is and Klopp has a massive job on his hands getting him in the groove again. But it will no doubt happen again that he’s delivering at the highest level.
 
How many pacy forwards continue to have a great career well into their thirties? History will tell us that there isn’t many. People will point to his Muslim upbringing but Father Time doesn’t give a fuck if you drink/smoke or not.
 
Ah yes, I forgot that he cant score a goal without the same top speed as he had when he was 24.
My mistake. Its only pace that gives you goals. Just look at Adama Traore and all those goals his pace gives him.

On a serious note its a marginal drop off and he's 30. Not 50.
Kyle Walker is still one of the fastest players in the league and he's 32.

And to finish this discussion off, Salah was clocked in by Opta last season to have the second fastest sprint in the league.
 
You missed my point. I didn’t mention his pace decline. He is a pacy forward, I’m sure we can all agree on that. How many pacy forwards have a career well into their 30s? Messi and Ronaldo? Who else?

Time tells us they drop off. Whether that be slower reactions, small drop off in power to strike the ball, etc. these small percentage drop offs will have massive impacts on their game.

Which makes the massive contract a stupid decision.
 
Aguero and Robben were fairly productive till their age 33 seasons, and they were far more injury prone than Salah. Vardy is 35 now, and he banged in 17 goals last year, and was hitting 20 plus the years prior. Aubameyang is 33 and still scores at a high rate (though he's an unprofessional shitcunt). Salah is infinitely more focused, dedicated and disciplined than either Vardy or Aubameyang.

Salah's contract extension is till age 33, so I don't think it's a major issue. Would have been concerned if he were on the books for big money till like he was 35-36, but I think he has 2-3 years of excellent production still left in him.

In any case, across sports, there's been a noticeable trend of athletes now extending their careers into their 30s, which wasn't so much the case earlier.

Salah himself isn't a major issue. It's the old midfield, huge number of injuries, complete lack of balance and the tactical issues that are a problem. I would bet on Salah scoring 20+ goals once these issues get sorted.
 
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