The Egyptian finally did what he has been trying to all season against Bournemouth, and it could take him to another level for the rest of the season.
Quietly, Liverpool's win over Bournemouth very much belonged to Mohamed Salah. In a day where James Milner's influence was heavily cited, Salah quietly broke down barriers which have clearly played on him at times this season.
There has been some joined up paranoia about what has been troubling Salah this season. It is perfectly reasonable to conclude nothing — that he has been quietly ticking along as Liverpool's goalscoring threat in chief — as Joel Rabinowitz wrote on these pages yesterday. Yet others, such as Jamie Carragher have cited body language or the fact that his name wasn't being sung loudly by Reds' supporters as a possible sign that he is less loved and in turn loves his surroundings a little less than before.
On Saturday, Salah's name was belted out at full volume by the home crowd after his equalising goal, but it was the manner of the goal which may have buried a ghost which has been haunting Salah for the majority of the campaign. The episode at Burnley in which Salah was very much the source of Sadio Mané's frustration has been a prominent source of continued conspiracy about the Egyptian.
There is clearly no rift between the two, despite the desperate attempts of some to still labor the point. Yet there has maybe been a justified sense that Salah has looked to play in teammates, especially Mané, at times when he should trust his own justifiably selfish instincts. Salah is currently down on expected shots per 90 minutes from his first season at the club, with a rate of 4.36 in 2017/18 to 3.89 this season. He has also already surpassed his expected assists per 90 minutes from his first season, with a rate of 0.29 to 0.25.
What he hadn't done until now was to dig Mané out of a situation in which he could and should have done better. That is exactly what happened as the Senegalese forward broke free after dispossessing Jack Simpson in the Bournemouth half. Mané's pass was behind Salah and the cahnce looked dead. This was Liverpool's best opening at a time they were desperate to for a goal. Salah rescued the situation and nestled the ball into the bottom corner of the net (the xG of the chance was 0.22).
Neither player or supporter will have thought anything of the wider context of the goal, but it felt like a situation Salah had been wanting all season in order to bury something which had been subconsciously on his mind since August. What that means for his form going forward is unknown, but it is eminently possible that Liverpool now start to see an even more clinical version of their number 11 in the coming weeks.
They will definitely need him at his selfish best once again come this evening against Atlético Madrid
Source:liverpoolfc.com
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