Three days ahead of Leicester City vs Liverpool in the English League Boxing Day, former Manchester City player Samir Nasri issued a criticism for Mohamed Salah. Nasri called Salah a selfish player.
“Salah is more about individual players, he only aspires to score goals. I do not call Salah selfish, but rather pursue goals and statistics,” Nasri was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
A few days after Nasri expressed this criticism, Salah showed a selfish game when Liverpool defeated Leicester. To the extent that Salah’s desire to score makes the Reds coach Juergen Klopp angry.
Klopp rebuked Salah when the 27-year-old threw away the opportunity in the 11th minute. Salah tried to score from a tight angle even though Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino were in a better position to score. Klopp shouted: “Mo!”
Klopp’s annoyance is reasonable. The reason is, the position is still a goalless draw and victory over Leicester is important for Liverpool in an effort to win the Premier League title for the first time. Klopp then pulled Salah in the 70th minute when Liverpool were winning 1-0.
After the match against Leicester, Liverpool supporters on social media were divided. Some supported Salah, others criticized the winger who started his professional career with Al Mokawloon.
Naturally, if front line players like Salah always want to score goals. Moreover, statistics show that Salah is not an arbitrary player in front of the opponent’s goal. Evidently the former Chelsea player won the top scoring Premier League title in the last two seasons.
Salah until now, along with Sadio Mane, is also the top scorer while Liverpool in the Premier League with nine goals. Salah often scores important goals for Liverpool.
What happened when Liverpool beat Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Thursday (12/26), is a natural thing. But the ‘natural’ thing could be a time bomb for Liverpool if Klopp is unable to overcome it.
Klopp Right Coach
Still fresh in our memories Salah and Mane had a fight during the match against Burnley last September. When Mane got angry on the edge of the field after being pulled out. The Senegalese player was upset because Salah did not give him bait in several games and insisted on scoring goals.
Liverpool should be grateful to have a coach like Klopp. The German coach has so far been able to overcome problems in the team calmly. Klopp never blamed his players in front of the media, but resolved problems on the pitch.
When against Leicester, Klopp showed power by pulling out Salah in the 70th minute. Klopp doesn’t care about the key player status of Salah. When Klopp felt the game Salah had begun to ‘damage’ the team, the former Borussia Dortmund coach did not think twice about withdrawing ‘Egyptian Messi’.
Even though Liverpool only won 1-0 over Leicester and Salah’s presence could be decisive at the last minute, as the player often does. But Klopp wants to show that he is the ‘boss’ in the Liverpool squad.
Klopp is aware that the trio of Mane-Firmino-Salah is the main key for Liverpool to win the first Premier League title. Liverpool need the three attackers to play as a unit, not as a selfish player.
The Mane-Firmino-Salah trio are Liverpool’s most valuable assets that their competitors in the Premier League do not currently have. Liverpool’s rival clubs will surely struggle if their main attacker experiences a goal drought. Call it Leicester. When Jamie Vardy fails to score, the Foxes will find it difficult to win. The same applies to Manchester City with Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.
Liverpool have their own advantages with the trio of Mane-Firmino-Salah, and that is clearly visible today. When Mane was unable to score in five appearances and Salah played under the best performance, they had Firmino who scored two goals against Leicester.
There were moments when Firmino experienced a goal famine, at the same time either Salah or Mane showed extraordinary sharpness. Liverpool’s front lines always complement each other to win.
Klopp must be able to ensure such conditions can be maintained until the end of the season. Until the English Premier League title was in the grip and lifted by Jordan Henderson at the end of the season.
