Mohamed Salah is world class and can get even better: Five things we learned from Liverpool’s draw with Tottenham
Salah is the second-highest goalscorer in the Premier League this season – despite being one of the most wasteful. His ceiling remains tantalisingly high
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Your support makes all the difference.As Jonathan Moss blew his whistle for half-time, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino exchanged mildly puzzled looks with one another. At 1-0, this game was still very much in the balance. It shouldn’t have been.
The well-oiled Tottenham machine that so efficiently deconstructed Manchester United earlier this week coughed and spluttered at Anfield, before breaking down completely within three minutes. Against United, Spurs looked as though they could play into the early hours of Thursday morning without conceding. Here, they lasted barely three minutes.
Brittle at the back and confused going forward, Spurs did precious little in the first-half to suggest that Mauricio Pochettino had learned from his consistent defeats away from home to Tottenham’s biggest rivals. And yet for all their problems, Harry Kane snatched them a point at the very end of this match. Were it not for a rare lapse from him at the penalty spot a few minutes earlier, they may even have won it.
That would have been an exceptionally unjust way for the match to end, because Liverpool were the better team and had their foot pressed onto Tottenham’s throat for the majority of the evening, until Victor Wanyama crashed in a thunderous half-volley to make it 1-1, ten minutes from time.
But Liverpool would only have had themselves to blame, because this game should have been put to bed long before Spurs mounted their last-gasp fightback. Liverpool have one of the most the thrilling front threes in the league, but a better one would have killed this game off in the first-half, when Spurs were on the ropes and struggling.
Which brings us to Salah. The Egyptian has slotted in seamlessly at Anfield and perhaps that is because he feels as close as possible to a physical representation of Jurgen Klopp’s thrillingly aggressive – if frequently profligate – side. He was once again Liverpool’s best player, responsible for both of their goals, and has now notched up 22 in just 25 Premier League games.
He could even have had a hat-trick. A nuisance throughout, he had a fine chance to put Liverpool two goals to the good early in that dominant first-half, only to skew Trent Alexander-Arnold’s miscued shot wide when he would have been expected to do better.
What makes Salah’s many achievements so far this season all the more remarkable is the number of chances he has failed to convert. Opta record that he has missed 21 ‘big chances’ already this campaign – more than any other player – and yet he has still notched up his first 20 league goals for the club quicker than the likes of Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen.
It leaves you wondering just how good he – and this Liverpool team – can get. Allowances have to be made: it cannot be forgotten that Salah is playing his first full season in the English top-flight, with a brand new set of team-mates. He is also relatively young and playing in an even more advanced role then where he was deployed at Roma. His ceiling remains tantalisingly high.
Liverpool remain infuriatingly prone to shooting themselves in the foot, as the frankly ridiculous conclusion to this match proved. And so far, the introduction of Virgil van Dijk has failed to sort out their gaffe-prone defence. But with Salah leading their attack, there is always hope. And if he can cut down on those missed opportunities, he will be unstoppable.
Four other things we learned:
- Perhaps VAR isn’t so bad after all. The ending of this game was mired in confusion and both of Tottenham’s penalties were debatable.
- Victor Wanyama. Woof. His thirty yard thunderbolt was his first goal of the season – he won’t score a better one.
- Poor Loris Karius just can’t catch a break. The German’s vastly improved performance is worthy of praise, but was completely overshadowed by his disastrous new man bun.
- Congratulations Harry Kane. His late penalty-kick was his 100th Premier League goal in 141 appearances. Only Alan Shearer (124) reached that total in fewer games.
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