Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah is enjoying himself in big games for Liverpool
When you can smile and shrug off a missed penalty against Real Madrid in the Champions League, it's probably a good sign. It indicates that A. you are playing well, and B. that you are relaxed. Welcome to Mohamed Salah's world.
This is almost as good as any version of Salah we have seen and there is a sense, right now, that he is enjoying the moment no matter what. Even with talk of his future dominating the narrative of every game, it certainly isn't getting on top of him. In fact, there is a glint in his eye, an unmistakable mischief as he knows what each glorious touch does.
It is not to say that he did not care about failing to convert his spot-kick in front of the Kop on Wednesday night, more that even in fully operational God driven mode - one that usually sees Salah hoover up goals without mercy - he is up for the ride of things. Salah, such a stone cold killer on the pitch, is expressing his personality and feelings more than ever.
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Maybe it is just the added attention on his every move but celebrations for goals right now seem that extra bit more pointed. There is an obvious attraction to each word said publicly. This Salah can feel more like a character than a player.
That said, as Salah took control of the situation and effectively fought back against his club on Sunday afternoon at Southampton, there is definitely something to his play right now that suggests he is simply making the most of it. It would be wrong to believe that Salah is on his victory lap at Anfield, but if this is to be his final seven or so months at the club, how many more nights like this will there be?
Beating Real Madrid, the champions of Europe, at a relative canter, is not common. It doesn't happen every day. There's a universe in which Salah doesn't face Carlo Ancelotti or these opponents again, so forgive him for soaking up each element of the evening.
If he really is 'more out than in', then there is no certainty and no counting of chickens here. Salah has a finite amount of matches left at Liverpool until a contract to help extend that is put in front of him. He is a realist as well as an optimist in these moments, wanting more.
Salah is not ready to sail off into the sun with a big payday from the Middle East because there is nothing over there that rivals what he gets on Merseyside, especially not when Madrid are in town. So it was there, when facing up to his fans in the seconds after realising that a sliced, scuffed penalty had not gone in, that real Salah was on show for a second. The world was gazing at him again like a caged animal.
His head went back in disbelief, it went down again in disgust. The hands went to his face, he did a little skip of frustration. He closed his eyes, swept his fingers across his hair for a moment, did a small hop tinged with annoyance, and then smiled. This is funny.
(Image: Getty Images)
Salah is one of the most inevitable players out there. When Liverpool aren't at their best (see, Southampton), he is ready and set to deliver. At points Salah can look like a robot with the way he dribbles in straight lines. It is all in the computational method he has to achieve the two Gs: Goals and Greatness. The wires are programmed for him to impact football matches.
To win the penalty in the first place Salah had to show a bending of the touches, curving and gliding inside for a brief flutter, showing Fran Garcia the way before glitching outside. This is Salah relishing time and making it shift.
Allow him the shot at the end of it. Salah has done so much for Slot and for Liverpool that actually, seeing a human moment from him is reassuring. It isn't going to be the be all and end all of his contract saga. Liverpool will need to turn to him again on Sunday against Manchester City. He will be there, you can be certain, because this Salah, in limbo and purgatory over his future, has never been as ready for big games.
More than anything, perhaps, there is an extra laser-edge to his focus right now. Each appearance one step closer, maybe, to being his last. Better make them count. Was that his final missed penalty?
Liverpool haven't had a Salah on this sort of cliff before, at least not one as happy and assured in his place as this. He is resting on the brink, knowing that each roar must be savoured, and he is rewarding that beast, feeding it. Laughing off a penalty is Salah feeling something more and feeling it again.
Slot has him fighting for more of this and is currently harnessing the talent and drive in a unique-era of Salah. It won't and can't go on forever but the on edge Salah might just be the best.
It is an environment you cannot manufacture. Liverpool aren't able to explain this one as trying to get more juice out of Salah before signing up him again and extending the love-in. But now that they do have Salah in full flow it has to be used. They have a player more blinded by the need to prove a point than in recent memory, and they have him glowing throughout. It isn't normal and shouldn't be taken for granted.
Liverpool have seen plenty of different Salah models and adjustments before but not this one. There hasn't been a Salah capable of making something so big seem so small. When it comes to the moments of a season, this is just the Salah they need.