How Liverpool's Mohamed Salah Has Taken the Premier League by Storm
Were it not for Kevin De Bruyne's relentless excellence in a team charging toward the Premier League title at full pelt, Liverpool speedster Mohamed Salah would be the consensus people's pick for Player of the Season at this halfway point.
His 14 league goals trump all other tallies—even Harry Kane's and Sergio Aguero's—and his three assists place him behind only Philippe Coutinho in Liverpool's creativity stakes. He's delivering a goal or an assist every 80 minutes in Premier League play—an absurd average no one could possibly have expected from him upon arrival at Anfield in June.
At the second time of asking, but in his first proper chance to do so, Mohamed Salah is taking England's top tier by storm.
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Branded a "flop" and a "Chelsea reject" by many, Salah's obvious growth, particularly at Roma, where he became a reliable goalscoring presence, was ignored by those seemingly desperate for him to fail. Presumed to be nothing more than a speed merchant dominating a slow league, comparisons to Juan Cuadrado—who despite being good, looked hapless in the Premier League—soon abounded.
Liverpool's pre-season may have had a hand in adding to the myth that Salah would turn out like Cuadrado. First, he looked lost in a defensive capacity against Wigan Athletic—so much so that manager Jurgen Klopp was left chuckling about it, per ESPN—and then, against Hertha Berlin, he scored after Coutinho put him through with a diamond of a pass over the top.
The speed merchant scores a goal on the counter-attack. Confirmation bias activated.
But Salah quickly poured scorn over suggestions he'd be a one-trick pony, surpassing all expectations and making his doubters look foolish, and he did it by producing a vast array of tricks. For those who wanted to believe it, that goal against Hertha pointed to a one-dimensional threat reliant on inch-perfect service, but five months and just shy of 20 goals (in all competitions) later, anyone standing by that type of assessment is doing so with their fingers in the ears and their eyes shut.
In his short Liverpool career thus far, Salah has essentially scored every type of goal. He's replicated what he did against Hertha when slaying Arsenal, Stoke City and West Ham United on the counter but has managed everything from tap-ins to 25-yard wonder strikes, too.
Southampton and Everton are just two of the teams who have felt the wrath of his curling, long-range strikes, and these often seem to come at key times—putting his team one up in a tight match or icing games that are perhaps threatening to bend away from Liverpool's favour.
This isn't a new trait in his game; he displayed it frequently at Roma in 2016-17, with Pescara, Chievo and Torino all falling victim to it, but his ability to produce these shots at crucial moments has seen him take on a pivotal role in the team.
More common during his time at Roma were goals borne out of either incredible movement or a striker's instinct in the box, and that's been a prevailing trait in Liverpool red, too. The number of tap-ins he scores is no coincidence; once the ball goes wide to the opposite flank, Salah morphs into a deadly No. 9 with predatory instincts at the far post.
It's no wonder Salah's "adaption process" was essentially nonexistent. Klopp plugged him into a system that, in certain ways, was similar to Luciano Spalletti's Roma: The link play from the centre-forward, while less bullish from Roberto Firmino compared to Edin Dzeko, creates the same pockets of space, and Liverpool were already accustomed to releasing quick, clever runners from wide early, as they'd been doing it with Sadio Mane throughout the previous season.
Given the ideal platform that extracted his best from the off, he quickly became a full-on nightmare to defend against and to plan for. A frequent goalscorer, a menacing dribbler and one who stands up to be counted at the most crucial moments.
It's important not to pretend he's perfect; Salah has flaws. He's missed a fair few gilt-edged chances this season, his general one-footedness can be an issue, plus the contact on the ball he gets at times is awful.
But when you produce at the rate he does, you're borderline immune from criticism just as long as you keep doing it, and he's shown no signs of slowing down. Besides, Lionel Messi is one-footed, Karim Benzema misses at a similar rate, and Kylian Mbappe's contact with the ball can at times make you wince.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will be the latest to attempt to stifle Salah this coming weekend—knowing full well he outright failed at the first attempt in August—and given the vein of form the Egyptian is in, it feels like he's doomed no matter what he tries.
Sitting off Liverpool and forcing them to break down a deep block can work—West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham Hotspur have successfully claimed points in this fashion—but the likelihood of Arsenal doing that at home seems slim. Even if they do, Salah's ability to unlock a game with the stroke of a foot remains a threat.
Push and press high against Liverpool, and you're leaving the sort of space Salah (and Mane) love nothing more than to devour. Asking a player like Nacho Monreal to compete with him one-on-one over 90 minutes is a high-risk strategy that will surely yield errors.
That the Egyptian will cause so much consternation for opposing managers is a pure indication of his overwhelming quality and a true marker for how devastating he's been in what could quite conceivably be labelled a redemption mission for the winger.
When Salah signed, his €42 million transfer fee was pointed to as a hefty sum; but now, to the delight of some and the chagrin of others, it's starting to feel like the bargain of the summer.
All statistics via WhoScored.com
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