Premier League used their official Instagram account to share the heatmap of the last six games from Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah, shutting down all the critics who call him more of a forward than a right-winger. Liverpool fans have persistently defended Salah from the huge group of football followers actively downplaying Salah’s incredible career so far.
The Egyptian’s critics have accused him of “stat-padding”, “playing selfishly”, and “acting more like a forward than a winger”. Furthermore, football pundits like Troy Deeney have downplayed Salah’s world-class stature by claiming he is not as “eye-catching” as others.
While everyone has an opinion, the problem with someone like Deeney is their status as a former professional footballer and also the reach that their platform has. In that case, if their opinion lacks proper research or substance, along with extreme bias, they are abusing the platform they have.
That issue has persisted with Salah throughout his Liverpool career, as award committees have repeatedly shunned the Egyptian for highly reputed honors. The two biggest agendas that have circulated the media are “Salah is more of a striker than a winger” and “Salah is only a stat-padder, lacking eye-catching aspect in the game”.
Agenda One: Salah is more of a striker than a winger
There is no denying that Liverpool, under the legendary Jurgen Klopp, capitalized on the 32-year-old Egyptian by playing him as an inside forward. However, Salah still operated at the right with Sadio Mane on the left and Roberto Firmino as a false nine.
Liverpool under Klopp operated with a high-pressing attacking philosophy as the fullbacks bombarded forward while the midfielders worked tirelessly. The team defended together and attacked together, while the likes of Salah and Mane were consistently tracking back.
In fact, the majority of Liverpool fans had concerns about Salah’s work rate when he signed from AS Roma. Nevertheless, the Egypt captain surprised the fanbase with his impressive work ethic to help Trent Alexander-Arnold in the defensive phases.
Since the last season, Salah has dropped further wide instead of playing as an inside wide forward, stretching the play. The Premier League used their official Instagram account to highlight the head map of Salah in the last six games for Liverpool.
The 32-year-old stays as wide as possible when the possession is in the defensive and middle third of the game. Salah uses his movement at the very end of the transition of possession from the middle third to the attacking third to exploit channels and spaces within the opposition box.
The Premier League used their official Instagram account to highlight the impressive heatmap of Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.
The Premier League used their official Instagram account to highlight the impressive heatmap of Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah.
This is the reason why the Egyptian forward has also created a lot of goal-scoring chances with incisive passes. The agenda makes his critics forget that Salah has 22 assists along with his 32 goals from 41 matches in all competitions this season.
Those numbers are fantastic for any playmaker operating in the Premier League, showcasing his all-round influence. The agenda that “Salah is more of a striker than a winger” is objectively false.
Agenda Two: Salah is only a stat-padder, lacking eye-catching aspects
Lately, Deeney has mostly voiced this agenda, using Vinicius Junior as the prime example of a world-class player. As subjective as this opinion is, once again, there is objective evidence making such criticism look silly.
If people, including pundits, want respect for their opinions, they need to back them with reasoning and evidence. Otherwise, it is well within the rights of those who have evidence to disrespect and shut down such trivial notions.
According to Fotmob, Salah has created 69 chances in the Premier League this season, at 98.2 percentile. This amount of creativity established players like Mesut Ozil and David Silva among the best playmakers.
Furthermore, Salah has 51 successful dribbles at 94.5 percentile among all the Premier League players operating this season. The 32-year-old has created spaces in moments of brilliance to score and assist by himself, helping Liverpool consistently.
Deeney praised Real Madrid’s Vinicius for having flamboyancy, but Salah has consistently provided an end-product to his brilliance. At the end of the day, efficiency matters to Liverpool, who lacks the financial superpowers of their European rivals.
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Rest assured, many social media trolls back Deeney’s agenda, basing their “subjective” opinions more on delusion and bias than on reality. Salah has played a pivotal role for the Reds this season, with fans hoping he will get the credit he is due.