A little over two months ago, it felt as though Mo Salah’s Liverpool career had come to a premature end.
Salah had been benched for three successive Premier League games towards the end of November and start of December. He responded by going on the front foot, not wanting to be the sole scapegoat for Liverpool’s poor form.
The Egyptian spoke of broken promises and a lack of relationship with Arne Slot. He went as far as saying that someone doesn’t want him at Liverpool.
As a result, Salah was dropped from the squad for Liverpool’s Champions League game against Inter Milan. He then started on the bench against Brighton and Hove Albion, before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations.
In this article, we’ll cover:
Liverpool’s false dawn
During Salah’s absense, Liverpool went on an unbeaten run across all competitions. Slot had made the Reds a lot more robust defensively, but it was at the expense of the attack. This decision was instrumental in Liverpool escaping mid-table purgatory to involve themselves in the race for Champions League football.
Despite that unbeaten run — which stretched 10 games in the Premier League — Liverpool managed just four wins. It was something of a false dawn. Salah was never the problem, and dropping him was never the fix.
Had Salah not kicked up a fuss, there’s a world in which the 33-year-old departs Anfield and joins a club in Saudi Arabia. By his standards, Salah had been underperforming in the Premier League. Fans had even started to question whether his new contract last season was a good idea. The tide had turned.
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It wasn’t ever necessarily an issue with Salah, though. The team wasn’t performing. Slot was no longer setting up to get the best out of the Salah. And yet he was being judged on his numbers from yesteryear when it wasn’t possible for him to hit those highs.
Granted, Salah wasn’t the same player as in previous campaigns. But in the right system, he could still be impactful, decisive and a standout.
He’s shown that since returning from Afcon.
Salah’s return to form
Salah has scored two goals and provided four assists in his past seven games for Liverpool. The Reds as a whole have scored 20 goals across those seven matches, netting three or more on four occasions.
For a little context, Liverpool scored 20 goals during their 12-match unbeaten streak without Salah as a starter. They scored three or more in a single game just twice, and one of those occasions came against a League One side in the FA Cup.
Liverpool are much better attacking outfit with Salah in the team. And they’re significantly better when they’re actually playing to his strengths.
Salah is having slightly fewer touches per 90 minutes, but they’re more meaningful. He’s also getting more touches in the box, and it’s allowing him to be more influential in the final third. Salah’s shot average is up since the turn of the year, and he’s a much greater threat oo, with an Expected Goals contribution spike of 0.09 per 90. He’s no longer just a touchline winger, he’s getting into the box and making things happen.
It’s why Salah has been able to be a standout performer in a number of matches recently. In Liverpool’s recent FA Cup win over Brighton, Salah created the most chances (four), completed the most dribbles (three), had the most shots (five) and the most touches in the opposition box (11).
For the 1-0 win over Sunderland, Salah assisted the only goal of the game, ranking second for Expected Assists, first for touches in the opposition box and third for xG. In the eventual loss to Manchester City, he had the most shots (five) and the second-highest number of touches in the opposition box (nine).
Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Newcastle United saw Salah rank well across a number of attacking metrics. He was second for touches in the opposition box and created the joint-most chances.
No coindence
It surely can’t be a coincidence that Liverpool have seemingly ramped up their attacking numbers at the same time Salah starts showing up high in the attacking metrics again?
After the win over Brighton, Slot was keen to focus on Salah’s work off the ball. But Liverpool’s season isn’t contingent on the Egyptian’s defending. It is, however, closely tied to Salah scoring goals and creating chances.
He’s doing that now and, all of a sudden, Liverpool look like a serious threat in attack.