Topic: Mohamed Salah - Best in the World *

[Coolie High]

Reckon Neymar's an amazing player personally - if he wasn't living in the Messi-Ronaldo era he'd have won a Ballon D'Or by know I think. He had better than a 1 in 2 record for Barca, mostly from out wide, and that was when he was playing second fiddle to Messi. Got a 2 in 3 record for Brazil, and is already 4th in their all time top scorer list, and he's only just turned 26 - if he stays mostly fit he may well end up their record goalscorer, and should at least overtake Ronaldo and Romario.

Incredible dribbler too, like, utterly, utterly ridiculous. Flashy and over the top with it, but very effective too - I really enjoy watching him play. He's an utter tit both on and off the pitch and I can't stand him, but he really is some player imo. Sort of funny that he's gone to PSG where he'll likely never fulfill his potential because Ligue 1 is just too easy for him, but a bit of a shame too. Feel the same about Mbappe - think both could do with leaving for a harder league if they want to make the most of their talents.

Not meaning to have a go at all mate, I just feel Neymar is quite underrated in this country, for reasons that I've never really understood. Maybe it's because he'll almost certainly never come to this league. That and the constant diving, possibly.

What year would he have won the B'allon d'or?

[Coolie High]

Neymar is a bigger name overall but as far as this particular season is concerned Mo has imo shown the most in the World football, he also had tougher teams to deal with than his closest rivals.

Yes agree, he's big game record is incredible as well, Neymar has overinflated his stats but hasn't had the big moments or done anything in particular against a big team.

[CowboyKangaroo]

What year would he have won the B'allon d'or?

2015 when he came third behind Ronaldo and Messi seems a fair enough shout given the premise.

[Coolie High]

2015 when he came third behind Ronaldo and Messi seems a fair enough shout given the premise.

Hard to argue because he was playing alongside Messi also.

[Djozer]

What year would he have won the B'allon d'or?

Like CowboyKangaroo says, 2015 probably, when he came third. He was ace for Barca in that treble winning season. Obviously Messi had mosre of an impact, but Messi's one of the top three players ever.

Came third last season too, though I'm not entirely sure he deserved it. Was brilliant for PSG up until the injury though, and not just in the French league (which seems far, far too easy for him) but in Europe too.

Yes agree, he's big game record is incredible as well, Neymar has overinflated his stats but hasn't had the big moments or done anything in particular against a big team.

Not sure I agree with that. He ran the show for Barca when they had that ridiculous second leg comeback against PSG. Think he scored 2 or 3 times over both legs in the semi final in 2014/15, and got one in the final too (might have wiki'd that last one!). He's a complete dick, but I think he's a tremendous player.

[Coolie High]

Like CowboyKangaroo says, 2015 probably, when he came third. He was ace for Barca in that treble winning season. Obviously Messi had mosre of an impact, but Messi's one of the top three players ever.

Came third last season too, though I'm not entirely sure he deserved it. Was brilliant for PSG up until the injury though, and not just in the French league (which seems far, far too easy for him) but in Europe too.

Not sure I agree with that. He ran the show for Barca when they had that ridiculous second leg comeback against PSG. Think he scored 2 or 3 times over both legs in the semi final in 2014/15, and got one in the final too (might have wiki'd that last one!). He's a complete dick, but I think he's a tremendous player.

I meant this season when it mattered he didn't do enough, or should I say his team was not on the level to trouble Madrid, that was the time to establish himself as the best player in the world, or even best player in the world who was not Messi and he failed.

So he could have whatever stats he feels to have in PSG until he spearheads PSG to a CL, or Brazil to a World Cup, he will be considered closer to Salah than to Messi, he knows this and that's the price you pay when going to France.

[dudleyred]

World Cup not good enough for you?
Bit silly this - Salah is incredible ... conceding Neymar is better doesn’t diminish him

Game of opinions that’s all it is

[Djozer]

So he could have whatever stats he feels to have in PSG until he spearheads PSG to a CL, or Brazil to a World Cup, he will be considered closer to Salah than to Messi, he knows this and that's the price you pay when going to France.

Agree completely with this. It was a really stupid career move to go to PSG I think, but obviously his ego couldn't handle playing second fiddle to Messi anymore. It some ways I think it's hilarious because he's such a prick, but I also think it's a bit of a shame. Still, there's already rumours floating around that he wants out, which would be amusing.

And yeah, with regards to the original point - I'd definitely prefer Salah to Neymar on this season's form and probably generally anyway, but that's mostly because Salah seems like a brilliant guy as well as being a brilliant player. I think Neymar's shown himself to be the better player over the last few seasons though, and in my opinion is almost certainly top three in the world currently. If Salah can have another season like this next year, and we win something big, he can be right up there. Big IF of course, but it would be amazing if he does.

[Clayton Bigsby]

If mo had exact same stats in for one of our rivals no way would we be calling him best in the world. Let's not put too much of a fan tax on him. He has been otherworldly this season. Let's just take that.

[BabuYagu]

Looking at Ibra, moving from France to Britain effectively halved a lot of his attacking stats.
Final season @ PSG = 1,34 goals per 90. 0,46 assists per 90. 1,2 dribbles per 90.
First season @ Utd = 0,63 goals per 90. 0,18 assists per 90. 0,6 dribbles per 90.
Passing accuracy, through balls and fouled per game were all significantly down too.

Depay also showed an attacking boost once he arrived in france also.
Final season @ United = 0,12 goals per 90. 0 assists per 90, 1,0 dribbles per 90. 0,4 Key passes per 90. 
First season @ Lyon = 0,41 goals per 90. 0,57 assists per 90. 2,5 dribbles per 90. 2,0 Key passes per 90.

Lacazette also has seen a big drop in attacking stats between these two leagues.
Final season @ Lyon = 1,05 goals per 90. 0,11 assists per 90, 1,6 dribbles per 90. 1,7 Key passes per 90. 
First season @ Arsenal = 0,44 goals per 90. 0,15 assists per 90. 1,0 dribbles per 90. 1,0 Key passes per 90.
Like Ibra, he also saw a decline in his passing accuracy and the amount he is being fouled.

We have seen similar with the likes of Di Maria, Balotelli, Thuavin, Falcao - players who objectively failed in the Premier league and yet are among the best attacking players in the French league. All this suggests to me that the level defence and goalkeeping there isn't as high as here as players are under less pressure to pass & shoot, dribbling around players is easier with them often opting to foul players as their solution.

This makes it really difficult to weight the value of attacking metrics in the French league with those from the Premier League. The certainly aren't of equal value, I am sure almost anybody in analytics would agree with that. How big is the disparity between the two leagues though? Or between Spain and France for that matter.

And this is probably why the likes of Cavani and Ibra were never seriously mentioned in the conversation for best player in the world when they were scoring 50 in a season at PSG. Of course they are great players and that is an achievement, but somewhat diminished because it is happening it what seems an inferior league. It is probably why he will be overlooked also when it comes to winning the Ballon D'Or too.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Looking at Ibra, moving from France to Britain effectively halved a lot of his attacking stats.
Final season @ PSG = 1,34 goals per 90. 0,46 assists per 90. 1,2 dribbles per 90.
First season @ Utd = 0,63 goals per 90. 0,18 assists per 90. 0,6 dribbles per 90.
Passing accuracy, through balls and fouled per game were all significantly down too.

Depay also showed an attacking boost once he arrived in france also.
Final season @ United = 0,12 goals per 90. 0 assists per 90, 1,0 dribbles per 90. 0,4 Key passes per 90. 
First season @ Lyon = 0,41 goals per 90. 0,57 assists per 90. 2,5 dribbles per 90. 2,0 Key passes per 90.

Lacazette also has seen a big drop in attacking stats between these two leagues.
Final season @ Lyon = 1,05 goals per 90. 0,11 assists per 90, 1,6 dribbles per 90. 1,7 Key passes per 90. 
First season @ Arsenal = 0,44 goals per 90. 0,15 assists per 90. 1,0 dribbles per 90. 1,0 Key passes per 90.
Like Ibra, he also saw a decline in his passing accuracy and the amount he is being fouled.

We have seen similar with the likes of Di Maria, Balotelli, Thuavin, Falcao - players who objectively failed in the Premier league and yet are among the best attacking players in the French league. All this suggests to me that the level defence and goalkeeping there isn't as high as here as players are under less pressure to pass & shoot, dribbling around players is easier with them often opting to foul players as their solution.

This makes it really difficult to weight the value of attacking metrics in the French league with those from the Premier League. The certainly aren't of equal value, I am sure almost anybody in analytics would agree with that. How big is the disparity between the two leagues though? Or between Spain and France for that matter.

And this is probably why the likes of Cavani and Ibra were never seriously mentioned in the conversation for best player in the world when they were scoring 50 in a season at PSG. Of course they are great players and that is an achievement, but somewhat diminished because it is happening it what seems an inferior league. It is probably why he will be overlooked also when it comes to winning the Ballon D'Or too.

If it allows for a weight, these are the transition rates I got in 2014 for each of the big 5 leagues based on seconds in possession before a turnover. I had a theory before I came up with these that each attack lasted roughly 30 seconds, and therefore each team has roughly 90 attacks in a game, plus whatever was added in injury time. But that's by the by. Perhaps these transition times can add a weight for our own purposes? Here they are (SIPBT = Seconds in Possession Before Turnover):

Code: [Select]

SIPBT League
24.8s ENG
26.9s GER
29.3s SPA
32.0s ITA
32.0s FRA

[Shaved Crossbar]

Salah's having a better season this year than Neymar has ever had

[BabuYagu]

If it allows for a weight, these are the transition rates I got in 2014 for each of the big 5 leagues based on seconds in possession before a turnover. I had a theory before I came up with these that each attack lasted roughly 30 seconds, and therefore each team has roughly 90 attacks in a game, plus whatever was added in injury time. But that's by the by. Perhaps these transition times can add a weight for our own purposes? Here they are (SIPBT = Seconds in Possession Before Turnover):

Code: [Select]

SIPBT League
24.8s ENG
26.9s GER
29.3s SPA
32.0s ITA
32.0s FRA

Interesting.

I believe in the European Golden Shoe award, the top 5 leagues age given a x2 multiplier and the rest a 1,5 multiplier. However since France passed both Portugal and Russia, they are part of the top 5 band despite being closer to Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey in scoring than they are to England.

But then that isn't really a reliable system as it tends to just value the performance in Europe of the best sides from that league rather than the strength of the league as a whole.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Just to add - I didn't come up with them myself - I got data on seconds in possession, turnovers, etc. I can't for the life of me remember where the numbers came from, only that I copied and pasted them, ordered them, and average the leagues out. It's not exact, but it definitely does show that there are differences in per possession times between each league, which speaks to the speed of play in each country.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Reports in the MIrror that we are going to offer him or are offering him a 200k per week improved deal, and that he is not interested in going to Spain

[Alan_X]

2015 when he came third behind Ronaldo and Messi seems a fair enough shout given the premise.

I'd have put Suarez above Neymar that year anyway.

[Jay012345]

Reports in the MIrror that we are going to offer him or are offering him a 200k per week improved deal, and that he is not interested in going to Spain

Hope so, they are circling, more and more stories starting to appear.

[BabuYagu]

Reports in the MIrror that we are going to offer him or are offering him a 200k per week improved deal, and that he is not interested in going to Spain

I'd slap the same contract in front of Bobby too

[Kashinoda]

Reports in the MIrror that we are going to offer him or are offering him a 200k per week improved deal, and that he is not interested in going to Spain

His agent didn't like that.
https://twitter.com/RamyCol

His agent also loves Donald Trump, hates socialism, makes a point about being anti politically-correct and is generally a complete twat.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

His agent didn't like that.
https://twitter.com/RamyCol

His agent also loves Donald Drumpf, hates socialism, makes a point about being anti politically-correct and is generally a complete twat.

Either way I'm not worried, there were earlier reports that we were going to increase his wages.

[Red Beret]

His agent didn't like that.
https://twitter.com/RamyCol

His agent also loves Donald Drumpf, hates socialism, makes a point about being anti politically-correct and is generally a complete twat.

The conspiracy is unmasked.  His agent got him the Liverpool move so he can troll us at a later point!

[jillcwhomever]

His agent didn't like that.
https://twitter.com/RamyCol

His agent also loves Donald Drumpf, hates socialism, makes a point about being anti politically-correct and is generally a complete twat.

Aren't most agents nowadays?

[killer-heels]

His agent didn't like that.
https://twitter.com/RamyCol

His agent also loves Donald Drumpf, hates socialism, makes a point about being anti politically-correct and is generally a complete twat.

Wow his agent really is a complete idiot looking at his tweets. Calling the womens march disgusting is quite the highlight

[zymespee]

Wow his agent really is a complete idiot looking at his tweets. Calling the womens march disgusting is quite the highlight

what has this got to do with football..where is the thin line between political views and football views?..time to separate these stuff from football

[killer-heels]

what has this got to do with football..where is the thin line between political views and football views?..time to separate these stuff from football

Im not saying there is a link. Even if Salah himself thought all this stuff I still would want him playing for us. Its not like Salah has not made some questionable decisions in his past.

[zymespee]

Im not saying there is a link. Even if Salah himself thought all this stuff I still would want him playing for us. Its not like Salah has not made some questionable decisions in his past.

the point is projecting your political views on a Liverpool fan forum and trying to use it to demonize others like they are bad for not subscribing to your views is the problem I have as this is basically a football website something we all love which has absolutely nothing to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics

[killer-heels]

the point is projecting your political views on a Liverpool fan forum and trying to use it to demonize others like they are bad for not subscribing to your views is the problem I have as this is basically a football website something we all love which has absolutely nothing to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics

People are entitled to disagree with my views and react accordingly. He called the womens march disgusting, i think that makes him a twat. If you also think the womens march was disgusting, you are free to say that he was absolutely right and thats the appropriate word to descirbe it.

[CraigDS]

the point is projecting your political views on a Liverpool fan forum and trying to use it to demonize others like they are bad for not subscribing to your views is the problem I have as this is basically a football website something we all love which has absolutely nothing to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics

If someone wants to be in the public eye (his job doesn't require this, he's made that choice), connected to football in this instance, and then air their opinions on a public platform, then I don't see why they then can't be subject to others giving their opinion on that.

[El Lobo]

the point is projecting your political views on a Liverpool fan forum and trying to use it to demonize others like they are bad for not subscribing to your views is the problem I have as this is basically a football website something we all love which has absolutely nothing to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics

If they subscribe to the particular views that this chap seems to, then yes he is a twat.

I'd hazard a guess the reason you're having much of an issue is because maybe you also subscribe to some of them? In which case I'd probably just walk away and not say too much more.

[Rhi]

the point is projecting your political views on a Liverpool fan forum and trying to use it to demonize others like they are bad for not subscribing to your views is the problem I have as this is basically a football website something we all love which has absolutely nothing to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics

This is a Liverpool FC website, not a football website. It actually has an awful lot to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics. We are an unashamedly political football club and have been throughout our history. From Shankly's own brand of socialism, to fighting Hicks and Gillett, to the long fight for truth and justice. To claim politics has no place on a Liverpool FC website just shows you have no idea what Liverpool FC is all about.

However, in the main we try to keep this kind of stuff away from the football chat, so the discussion on whether his agent is a rightwing knob (he is) ends now, and we can stick to eulogising about just how FUCKING GOOD Mo Salah is at footy.

[ThePoolMan]

Salah certainly deserves to be paid 200K, along with Firminho and Mane. However, Can certainly does not if the reports coming of him demanding for such a contract in order to stay, are true.

[zymespee]

This is a Liverpool FC website, not a football website. It actually has an awful lot to do with people's perspectives on partisan politics. We are an unashamedly political football club and have been throughout our history. From Shankly's own brand of socialism, to fighting Hicks and Gillett, to the long fight for truth and justice. To claim politics has no place on a Liverpool FC website just shows you have no idea what Liverpool FC is all about.

However, in the main we try to keep this kind of stuff away from the football chat, so the discussion on whether his agent is a rightwing knob (he is) ends now, and we can stick to eulogising about just how FUCKING GOOD Mo Salah is at footy.

again all the thing you talk of aren't necessarily partisan politics and I have not seen anywhere that Liverpool as an entity closes it quarters to people with differing views with respect to what you talk about makes your point invalid..I haven't seen anywhere that Liverpool fc hates people who subscribe to capitalism or mixed economy. It just doesn't click trying to substantiate your choice to attack an agent based on his political views and act like your opinion is the cream de la cream. I know for sure even in the playing staff and other staff many of them have differing opinions on politics and life itself but that doesn't matter if you talking about Liverpool fc. You can attack the agent on something that is related to something he said on football but to juxtapose his political beliefs or views to substantiate that he is a twat am sorry I don't agree with you and it's weird some two guys wants to project my views when am just trying to b logic for the discussion to be on a more fair grounds that's related to football ideologies

[exiledinyorkshire]

his agent is a right wing knob mate.

Why are you worried what people on here think of his political views?

your not having the last word on here!

he's a knob. last word.

Mo Salah is a wonderful footballer. His hair and his build and the way he moves remind me of Keegan. He is a fair bit bigger though granted.

[Mr Mingebag Squid]

again all the thing you talk of aren't necessarily partisan politics and I have not seen anywhere that Liverpool as an entity closes it quarters to people with differing views with respect to what you talk about makes your point invalid..I haven't seen anywhere that Liverpool fc hates people who subscribe to capitalism or mixed economy. It just doesn't click trying to substantiate your choice to attack an agent based on his political views and act like your opinion is the cream de la cream. I know for sure even in the playing staff and other staff many of them have differing opinions on politics and life itself but that doesn't matter if you talking about Liverpool fc. You can attack the agent on something that is related to something he said on football but to juxtapose his political beliefs or views to substantiate that he is a twat am sorry I don't agree with you and it's weird some two guys wants to project my views when am just trying to b logic for the discussion to be on a more fair grounds that's related to football ideologies

What?

Can we just focus on how fucking great Mo Salah is and that he plays for us?!

[zymespee]

What?

Can we just focus on how fucking great Mo Salah is and that he plays for us?!

Exactly what am trying to say

[swoopy]

Nice video here of Salah surprising some school kids

https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC/videos/10156710986277573/

I know it's all PR stuff but he looks genuinely happy to be doing this and it's really really great to see He seems very happy here and I hope it stays this way for absolutely years to come

[disgraced cake]

If he stays long enough to win us a couple of league titles he's going to get the same levels of adulation here like Maradona in Napoli 

[lionel_messias]

If he stays long enough to win us a couple of league titles he's going to get the same levels of adulation here like Maradona in Napoli 

FAR BIGGER.

He's a nice chap, with a good beard!

[redgriffin73]

Nice video here of Salah surprising some school kids

https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC/videos/10156710986277573/

I know it's all PR stuff but he looks genuinely happy to be doing this and it's really really great to see He seems very happy here and I hope it stays this way for absolutely years to come

Absolutely love the kids' reactions in this, they're all dying for a hug and don't mind showing it!

And like you say, Mo does genuinely look chuffed to be doing it.

[Nitramdorf]

Nice video here of Salah surprising some school kids

https://www.facebook.com/LiverpoolFC/videos/10156710986277573/

I know it's all PR stuff but he looks genuinely happy to be doing this and it's really really great to see He seems very happy here and I hope it stays this way for absolutely years to come

Thanks for posting that, some great reactions from the kids. I liked the little girl asking what shampoo he uses.