While Mohamed Salah is in the middle of yet another 30-goal season with Liverpool, for the benefit of all involved, the Egyptian King of the Kop should seriously consider leaving Anfield at the end of the season... Opinion by @OfficialKLM_
Check Out: 4 Big Stars Who Don't Have Clubs
At the beginning of the season, the Reds bid farewell to one third of their legendary front three of the 2010s when Sadio Mane left England for Bayern Munich. It may not have been evident then, but the Senegalese's departure from Liverpool would have a profound impact on the way Jurgen Klopp's men attack.
Towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign, as they were chasing an unprecedented quadruple, Roberto Firmino had already made way for Luis Diaz in the team's attacking trident and by doing that the German tactician sacrificed a lot of what made Mane and Salah so lethal, the Brazilian's selflessness. Fast-forward to the beginning of this campaign and the reigning CAF Men's Footballer of the Year's exit meant that there would be even less generosity for Salah as in came Darwin Nunez. Unlike the Brazil international and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations winner, Diaz and Nunez are not as comfortable laying the ball off to Salah to slot into the back of the net. The South American duo want to establish their own legend at the home of the six-time European champions.
When either the Colombian or the Uruguayan are in front of goal, more often than not they will look to score, even if other players may be in more favourable positions. This makes life difficult for Liverpool's Egyptian talisman, because he now needs to fulfil the role Firmino and Mane did so well for him, and that is to facilitate. The 30-year-old is more inclined to find his strike partners rather than he is to go for goal himself, not only because they're more selfish than the players he is used to playing with, but because none of them are as good as playing a ball into the final third as the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner. The same goes for Diogo Jota and Netherlands star Cody Gakpo. They also have a very "shoot first" mentality and it puts the former AS Roma and Chelsea attacker in a role that does not accentuate his best quality, goalscoring.
When one mentions Salah, the first thought that comes to mind should be goalscoring, and while he has 30 goals in all competitions so far this season, it feels as though his goals tally is disguising a lot of the flat performances he has had in this campaign. This is not a slight on either Diaz, Nunez, Gakpo or Jota, they are all excellent forwards who have the potential to be extremely deadly, but they are not forwards that complement Salah's game. Egypt's all-time top goalscorer needs to go to a side that will create a lot of their chances for him, because when it is he who scores all the goals, he attracts the attention of lot of the opposition, which means he can play his fellow strikers, who are not as tightly marked as a result, in.
Check Out: Real Madrid's Underrated Talisman
The forward currently has the second-lowest assists tally of his entire Liverpool career, 11. It is possible that he can refine his game in such a way that he can assist better, but he still has the pace and skill to terrify defences in Europe at the highest level for a couple more seasons.
Salah is a legend for Liverpool but all things must come to an end eventually, and it may be time for Klopp to fully embrace this new era of attackers at his disposal by letting go of the most prolific player he has ever had on Merseyside.
Opinion by @OfficialKLM_
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
WATCH VIDEO:
