Topic: Mohamed Salah - Best in the World *

[Keith Lard]

Right, most goals and assists of the front players but they are all equal. I wish we had 5 Mo Salah’s, even this version.

If he goes we are left, in my opinion, with a very average attack. City or Arsenal dont take anyone of them bar maybe Jota, who is injured a lot.

For sure. People don’t know what they have til it’s gone sometimes. Level of disrespect to Salah is galling at times. It would be just like him to shove it down a few peoples throats and come back firing. This bust up could be just what he needs. Life’s like that sometimes. It takes a spark sometimes to ignite something within.

[killer-heels]

People don’t know what they have til it’s gone sometimes. Level of disrespect to Salah is galling at times. It would be just like him to shove it down a few peoples throats and come back firing. This bust up could be just what he needs. Life’s like that sometimes. It takes a spark sometimes to ignite something within.

Its mad. Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo. Hardly screams a Premier League winning attack, does it?

[decosabute]

He was bang out of order today.

What you can say about it is that it's a sign of his character, in that he hates being left out, not being the main man etc. That's part of what's made him such a legend and such a winner. His and Mane's little 'rivalry' summed up what made both of them so good and we wouldn't have had the same success without that little edge

He was the one player that was always so open and fearless about setting targets- he never shied away from targeting title wins in those first couple of seasons, and openly talked about wanting the quadruple in 21/22 when everyone else was talking about taking it one game at a time.The man is a winner and he is probably hurting as much as anyone at how bad weve been lately, at how bad he himself has been and how weve crashed out of contention for the major trophies.

That's not to excuse him. He shouldn't have lashed out as he did. But that firey personality and selfishness is the price you pay for a player of his desire, quality and winning mentality.

The overall feeling was just one of sadness, really. Klopp is clearly the number 1 man at the club and the biggest reason for our success but Mo Salah has probably been next on the list. To see them at eachother under the shitty circumstances we have found ourselves in is gutting. Pure conjecture now but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Mo feels Klopp leaving has been an unnecessary distraction, Klopp probably feels a bit let down by the performances of a key man...they might've worked great together but they don't have to love eachother. It felt like a lot of personal frustration was there for Mo today the way that he seemed to get more and more agitated as he continued the argument.

Anyway, hopefully it's all sorted now. What happened today shouldn't affect what we decide Salah's future should be, but somebody does need to have a word and I hope he apologised to the boss. It's his performances that remain the biggest concern. I still have belief that he's good enough to reinvent himself, it's pretty high up the list of questions for Slot to answer when he comes in though. Or more likely Edwards, perhaps.

I don't know if I'd share your belief about his ability to further reinvent himself to hit the heights again, but otherwise that's a really well-expressed post.

[Coolie High]

For sure. People don’t know what they have til it’s gone sometimes. Level of disrespect to Salah is galling at times. It would be just like him to shove it down a few peoples throats and come back firing. This bust up could be just what he needs. Life’s like that sometimes. It takes a spark sometimes to ignite something within.

Relative to his ability he’s been disrespected a lot during his time here more than any other player of comparable quality, just the way it’s been..

[jepovic]

Right, most goals and assists of the front players but they are all equal. I wish we had 5 Mo Salah’s, even this version.

If he goes we are left, in my opinion, with a very average attack. City or Arsenal dont take anyone of them bar maybe Jota, who is injured a lot.

Since Christmas? He has been first absent, injured, out of form and finally pissed off

Maybe he makes a grand comeback next year, but I doubt it

[Keith Lard]

Its mad. Nunez, Diaz, Jota, Gakpo. Hardly screams a Premier League winning attack, does it?

You know, I actually think they’re all premiership winning strikers. We’re just in a shitty run of form.

Only one I’d sell is Jota if we got a top fee, purely because he can’t be relied on to stay fit. Which sucks because he’s excellent when fit.

[killer-heels]

Since Christmas? He has been first absent, injured, out of form and finally pissed off

Maybe he makes a grand comeback next year, but I doubt it

We cant bin a player based on his form since his return from AFCON. Its his first big injury for a while, maybe he isnt as sharp as he would like? Fact is he is still our best attacker and if we lose him, prepare for mediocrity.

[Coolie High]

Since Christmas? He has been first absent, injured, out of form and finally pissed off

Maybe he makes a grand comeback next year, but I doubt it

And he still managed to have 17 goals and 9 assists and the most big chances created in the league? He did this all in 3 months? That’s incredible.

[decosabute]

For sure. People don’t know what they have til it’s gone sometimes. Level of disrespect to Salah is galling at times. It would be just like him to shove it down a few peoples throats and come back firing. This bust up could be just what he needs. Life’s like that sometimes. It takes a spark sometimes to ignite something within.

I hope he does shove it down people's throats. We're all Liverpool fans and I for one could do with a Mo Salah performance.

But to be honest, the player has been shown plenty of respect. And nobody on here (as far as I've seen) has in any way downplayed or trivialised what he's done for this club. If he leaves this summer, he leaves as a legend and always will be.

Saying that his form has been abysmal and that he was massively out of line today isn't in any way disrespectful. It's the truth. And while many seem to act like those saying that are the emotional kneejerkers, I'd say those who are unable to accept any (justified) criticism of Salah are the ones getting emotional.

[killer-heels]

You know, I actually think they’re all premiership winning strikers. We’re just in a shitty run of form.

Only one I’d sell is Jota if we got a top fee, purely because he can’t be relied on to stay fit. Which sucks because he’s excellent when fit.

Disagree. They are good players, Jota is of course amazing, but always injured. But thats it, they are good, but not outstanding. We are not competing for a league or CL as that being our front line.

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

Think Edwards would've sold Salah to the Saudi club for close to 100 million end of last season and reinvested in a couple of players who are at the point we signed Salah: some pedigree, a point to prove at the very top, great quality. I would have.

Probably hoping for too much to see bids in that region now.

You want a collectively fit side that presses as consistently as Slot's Feyenoord seem to do, you can't carry older players who are slowing, that's the 'out' for the opponents to break the press. You pay for Slot's work that got him here, then let him do his job properly, unlike the fools at Chelsea / Utd.

All this before we even look at Salah's level in attack. Think his touch, finishing will return at a good level but he can't go past a man now, doesn't fit a consistent pressing unit at this point in his career imo, easier to defend against freeing up opponents to track our other attackers. Not worth his contract. Sell.

You want a top Liverpool then both our wide attackers must be complete, the way peak Mane and Salah were. No accomodating players, we have the resources to pick complete attackers.

Edit: Nunez, who has his strengths and may be worth another season, is also flawed and a poor footballer, never struck me as the type we would've gone for under Edwards. We have the money to go for complete, near complete players, return to that

[farawayred]

Fire

Ice, could make a great book.

Don't know about a book, but it's one of my wife's favorite perfumes.

[jepovic]

And he still managed to have 17 goals and 9 assists and the most big chances created in the league? He did this all in 3 months? That’s incredible.

He's got 3 goals this spring, which is what I have talked about.
Do you think that's the best striker in the team?
Do you think that's worth 350 k/w?
Do you think that's replacable?

[Keith Lard]

Think Edwards would've sold Salah to the Saudi club for close to 100 million end of last season and reinvested in a couple of players who are at the point we signed Salah: some pedigree, a point to prove at the very top, great quality. I would have.

Probably hoping for too much to see bids in that region now.

You want a collectively fit side that presses as consistently as Slot's Feyenoord seem to do, you can't carry older players who are slowing, that's the 'out' for the opponents to break the press. You pay for Slot's work that got him here, then let him do his job properly, unlike the fools at Chelsea / Utd.

All this before we even look at Salah's level in attack. Think his touch, finishing will return at a good level but he can't go past a man now, doesn't fit a consistent pressing unit at this point in his career imo, easier to defend against freeing up opponents to track our other attackers. Not worth his contract. Sell.

You want a top Liverpool then both our wide attackers must be complete, the way peak Mane and Salah were. No accomodating players, we have the resources to pick complete attackers.

Last year was defo the time to cash in (if all parties wanted it, which it sounds like they didn’t). But that was then and this is now.

If I was a betting man, I’d bet on Salah killing it next year, runs his contract down, Liverpool fans hoping he signs a new deal, and then a queue of clubs lining up to take him.

That’s why I say … sign him up now whilst the chips are down

[killer-heels]

He's got 3 goals this spring, which is what I have talked about.
Do you think that's the best striker in the team?
Do you think that's worth 350 k/w?
Do you think that's replacable?

He is the best striker in this team, no doubt. Is he worth 350k per week, possibly not. Is that replaceable, no.

[Coolie High]

He's got 3 goals this spring, which is what I have talked about.
Do you think that's the best striker in the team?
Do you think that's worth 350 k/w?
Do you think that's replacable?

The season doesn’t just consist of spring,

Is he the best striker in the team? Yes

Is his performances this season as a whole worth 350k? Yes

Do I think he’s replaceable? Of course but only by a handful of players, if we can form the team around conceding less goals even if we score less than we can still have success.

At the highest levels though, you need a superstar attacker or two, generally.

[farawayred]

He is the best striker in this team, no doubt. Is he worth 350k per week, possibly not. Is that replaceable, no.

The point was whether or not the Salah of 2024 is replaceable, and that answer is yes. 

[killer-heels]

The point was whether or not the Salah of 2024 is replaceable, and that answer is yes. 

Yeah but surely thats too small a sample size considering he was at AFCON then injured. He has been back since when, March?

[jepovic]

The season doesn’t just consist of spring,

Is he the best striker in the team? Yes

Is his performances this season as a whole worth 350k? Yes

Do I think he’s replaceable? Of course but only by a handful of players, if we can form the team around conceding less goals even if we score less than we can still have success.

At the highest levels though, you need a superstar attacker or two, generally.

No, but I was talking about the spring.

And none of knows if this is the new normal for Salah. Probably its better than this spring, but also nothing near his old best.

[farawayred]

Yeah but surely thats too small a sample size considering he was at AFCON then injured. He has been back since when, March?

But you have to take all the factors. He hasn't quit the national team, he will be playing at the next AFCON at the age of 33. Would you not expect that muscle injuries will be more likely than now, considering the way he plays? For us, he also changed his game to minimize defensive runs to hang more toward the front. He was also the player who gave us the speed from counters, especially from corners or set pieces in our end; now that's practically gone. Sure, he's currently our most efficient player, but huge factors for that is that all the play goes through him and he takes the penalties. Take that out, and Salah no longer looks the exceptional player we are used to associate him with. IMHO, the present version of Salah is replaceable, and it should be done. He has the class, but no longer the body that supports that.

[GBF]

Getting rid of Salah, yer lot are sniffing too much glue.

Our best player in goals and assists...he is equivalent to about 5 players goals and assists

[Simplexity]

Getting rid of Salah, yer lot are sniffing too much glue.

Our best player in goals and assists...he is equivalent to about 5 players goals and assists

Would be one of the "smart" decisions as he still has value and I reckon we need some funds. Also I expect the nerds back themselves to replace him accordingly or sell Slot down the river if it does not work out. Either way the nerds win.

[killer-heels]

But you have to take all the factors. He hasn't quit the national team, he will be playing at the next AFCON at the age of 33. Would you not expect that muscle injuries will be more likely than now, considering the way he plays? For us, he also changed his game to minimize defensive runs to hang more toward the front. He was also the player who gave us the speed from counters, especially from corners or set pieces in our end; now that's practically gone. Sure, he's currently our most efficient player, but huge factors for that is that all the play goes through him and he takes the penalties. Take that out, and Salah no longer looks the exceptional player we are used to associate him with. IMHO, the present version of Salah is replaceable, and it should be done. He has the class, but no longer the body that supports that.

I can understand that a player needs replacing and sometimes that player can still have a good season before the legs fall off. Mane and Firmino both had good seasons for us before they left and then they fell off a cliff. It could be the same for Salah as well if we sold him.

My issue is the replacement. We have a good collection of forwards outside Salah but no outstanding ones bar a injured Jota. If you are telling me we are replacing Salah with a top quality attacker ready to start for us the fine, but I am not in for the idea of getting some young player who one day develops into something good.

We have never had a situation under Klopp where we have sold our best player, there has always been another at the club who already took up the mantle or was there ready to. This will be different, there will not be a single attacker at the club as good as Salah when he leaves.

[farawayred]

Getting rid of Salah, yer lot are sniffing too much glue.

Our best player in goals and assists...he is equivalent to about 5 players goals and assists

Which five players do you have in mind, if you consider that penalty duties can be given to Macca?

https://www.statmuse.com/fc/ask?q=most+non-penalty+goals+premier+league+this+season

[Egyptian36]

But you have to take all the factors. He hasn't quit the national team, he will be playing at the next AFCON at the age of 33. Would you not expect that muscle injuries will be more likely than now, considering the way he plays? For us, he also changed his game to minimize defensive runs to hang more toward the front. He was also the player who gave us the speed from counters, especially from corners or set pieces in our end; now that's practically gone. Sure, he's currently our most efficient player, but huge factors for that is that all the play goes through him and he takes the penalties. Take that out, and Salah no longer looks the exceptional player we are used to associate him with. IMHO, the present version of Salah is replaceable, and it should be done. He has the class, but no longer the body that supports that.

Agree. You just have to look at where Firmino and Mane are now who are the same age. It's impossible for any human to keep the same level with how taxing our play style is for the forwards.

We spend what we earn, we should cash in to help the new manager.

[GBF]

Would be one of the "smart" decisions as he still has value and I reckon we need some funds. Also I expect the nerds back themselves to replace him accordingly or sell Slot down the river if it does not work out. Either way the nerds win.

Easier to replace a defender than someone who brings goals and assists.

I'll sell Trent or Virgil before.  Also the Saudis aren't going to spend like crazy this time

[RyanBabel19]

I dont think we should sell Salah, still class despite his recent struggles

Bang out of order today though

[DiggerJohn]

We sold Suarez and replaced with Balotetti and Lambert. That was under Rogers and the season was a shit show

[surfer. Fuck you generator.]

My issue is the replacement. We have a good collection of forwards outside Salah but no outstanding ones bar a injured Jota. If you are telling me we are replacing Salah with a top quality attacker ready to start for us the fine, but I am not in for the idea of getting some young player who one day develops into something good.

We have never had a situation under Klopp where we have sold our best player, there has always been another at the club who already took up the mantle or was there ready to. This will be different, there will not be a single attacker at the club as good as Salah when he leaves.

We don't have a single top attacker who is quick, can dribble and finish all in one. We're back where we were before we signed Mane. The new (old) recruitment team can do what they want, renewal is life. 

[JackWard33]

How the fuck are the Salah and Nunez threads the most active on this forum when both played 15 minutes today and our attack has better than our defence all season

Rawk is basically sky sports with a Liverpool spin these days

It’s like if Jamie Carragher was a forum

[farawayred]

I can understand that a player needs replacing and sometimes that player can still have a good season before the legs fall off. Mane and Firmino both had good seasons for us before they left and then they fell off a cliff. It could be the same for Salah as well if we sold him.

My issue is the replacement. We have a good collection of forwards outside Salah but no outstanding ones bar a injured Jota. If you are telling me we are replacing Salah with a top quality attacker ready to start for us the fine, but I am not in for the idea of getting some young player who one day develops into something good.

We have never had a situation under Klopp where we have sold our best player, there has always been another at the club who already took up the mantle or was there ready to. This will be different, there will not be a single attacker at the club as good as Salah when he leaves.

I see where we are coming from. But in recent seasons we've allowed way too many of our core players to lose their legs on our pitch. Way too many. The signs are there with Salah. We didn't believe the same signs with Fabinho, Hendo... We should learn from that.

We are not anything special when it comes to scored goals from expected xG:
https://xcancel.com/BassTunedToRed/status/1783542942101025169
It's a fine line, but this is wrong for a team fighting for trophies. I agree that from our forwards Lucho and Jota (when fit) may be the only ones deserving their place. Gakpo can be good, but blows hot and cold. Nunez is yet to prove effective in our setup. Harvey has not been given the possibility to develop there. I'd have to say that Dunns may have emerged as one of our top options, TBF. I agree with you about our attacking options, we need to bring better picks.

As for the replacement, I don't think that Salah should be replaced directly, but his functions should be distributed to new players. The non-penalty goals are below par from all of our attackers:
https://www.statmuse.com/fc/ask?q=most+non-penalty+goals+premier+league+this+season
Do you really think that is not replaceable?

[Red_Mist]

Love Mo, but been thinking recently that Bob P might well have shifted him on already by now, club legend or not, and we need to be more like Bob P’s Liverpool. Ruthless. No room for sentiment.

He’s been incredible. Legendary. Among the best of the absolute very best. But he’s not the future for the Reds. Sad, but just how it is. Finally come round to thinking if we can still get decent money for him then we should. Give Slot a half decent pot.

[Tonyh8su]

After seeing him refuse Jurgen’s handshake that’s it for him for me to be honest. I didn’t play at a hugely high level but a “decent” level when I was younger and anything like that would’ve got you sat back down. Anyone but Salah does something similar and I think there’d be calls for them to not kick a ball again under Klopp and, I’ll be honest, for me I think that’s what should happen.

Not just not shaking his hand, not just the outburst but then the trifecta of the snarky comment to the media to keep fanning the flames.

The absolute cheek of him to do that today to Jurgen. As someone says above, that’s now the meme of Klopps final season. I’m fuming,

[Clint Eastwood]

It feels like every player from Klopp’s incredible Liverpool side has left under a bit of a cloud. Feels like the same is happening here.

[Coolie High]

After seeing him refuse Jurgen’s handshake that’s it for him for me to be honest. I didn’t play at a hugely high level but a “decent” level when I was younger and anything like that would’ve got you sat back down. Anyone but Salah does something similar and I think there’d be calls for them to not kick a ball again under Klopp and, I’ll be honest, for me I think that’s what should happen.

Not just not shaking his hand, not just the outburst but then the trifecta of the snarky comment to the media to keep fanning the flames.

The absolute cheek of him to do that today to Jurgen. As someone says above, that’s now the meme of Klopps final season. I’m fuming,

Not sure about that, we’ve already seen Mane do that in the past and there weren’t widespread calls for him to never play for Liverpool again.

[jedimaster]

Salah can have no complaints about being dropped to the bench, he has been contributing next to nothing to our attack. I was just surprised it took so many bad games to start Diaz in his place.

[slaphead]

The media want everyone, especially Liverpool fans, to make a big deal out of that incident today. They'll over analyse it for days now. It was pure and utter frustation. At how he himself has been playing, about being benched, about the season petering out. Over and done with. Move on and just try and give big Kloppo a decent send off now

[keano7]

Fully expecting him to do one of his motivational Insta / Twitter posts tomorrow to clear it all up. The longer the silence goes on the worse look it looks for both the club and the player.

[jepovic]

I can understand that a player needs replacing and sometimes that player can still have a good season before the legs fall off. Mane and Firmino both had good seasons for us before they left and then they fell off a cliff. It could be the same for Salah as well if we sold him.

My issue is the replacement. We have a good collection of forwards outside Salah but no outstanding ones bar a injured Jota. If you are telling me we are replacing Salah with a top quality attacker ready to start for us the fine, but I am not in for the idea of getting some young player who one day develops into something good.

We have never had a situation under Klopp where we have sold our best player, there has always been another at the club who already took up the mantle or was there ready to. This will be different, there will not be a single attacker at the club as good as Salah when he leaves.

But we have to replace peak Salah anyway, because he doesnt exist anymore. Its not easy, but that's life.
We can either choose to keep the current Salah, or to sell him, but we cant turn back time.

The current Salah is on 13(?) non-penalty PL goals + 9 assists. That's still good numbers, but hardly irreplacable.

I used to be in the camp of trying to keep him and try to use him differently. But now I dont believe he could cope mentally with that

[glewis93]

Easier to replace a defender than someone who brings goals and assists.

I'll sell Trent or Virgil before.  Also the Saudis aren't going to spend like crazy this time

You'd sell our captain and vice-captain before Salah?

I'm not on the "sell Salah" train just yet but that's absolutely crazy to me. Trent is world-class and still only 25, Van Dijk has been a leader and a rock for years and in a position where physical decline isn't so impactful. If it's a choice between selling Salah or either of those two for big money, it's a no-brainer for me, Salah is gone.