Defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League has made Liverpool and Mohamed Salah’s Premier League campaign look even more impressive. His team-mates’ flaws have never been more stark.
The biggest names, star players and managers are usually the easy targets in the immediate firing line after a poor result. We are guilty ourselves, often questioning managers with an ‘Ange sack?’ piece after yet another Tottenham Hotspur defeat, for example.
Liverpool’s deserved Champions League defeat to Luis Enrique’s PSG is no different; Salah has become something of a scapegoat on social media having been locked down by Nuno Mendes for the vast majority of the two-legged last-16 tie and Arne Slot has been criticised for his in-game management and substitutions.
Mendes deserves the utmost praise for how he handled the best player in the world this season, especially in the first leg when Salah’s stat sheet contained nothing but zeros. The Portuguese left-back was impressive again at Anfield, limiting the Egyptian to only one shot on target and a 43% take-on success rate, all while winning four tackles, making seven effective clearances and completing two take-ons himself.
He was very impressive and Salah was not; this should not be enough to make him a scapegoat. This might sound a little counterintuitive but these two legs against PSG have not dulled our admiration for Salah but have actually highlighted the paucity of Liverpool’s other attacking options.
Diogo Jota is a good place to start. He has not scored a Champions League goal since November 2021, which was his first in the competition for a year. The 28-year-old has been an important player since joining Liverpool but his contributions have waned. Scoring clutch goals has always been his forte and that has happened twice this season -against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League – but his overall contribution is seriously lacking.
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This is where Darwin Gabriel Nunez Ribeiro enters the chat.
The boy is an enigma – not a £70million-level striker. He is playing with a target on his back and with rumours swirling about his long-term future at Liverpool, it is becoming clear that Reds head coach Slot does not relish the task of trying to refine this raw, energetic, passionate captain of chaos.
He is not Slot’s signing, so there will not be the same stubbornness to mould Darwin into an Anfield legend. The Uruguayan came on for Jota against PSG and struggled to make any sort of impact. By the time he entered the pitch, the game was simmering and Liverpool were tiring. That stopped him from pressing high and generally throwing his body around and causing carnage, which is what he does best and better than most.
Missing a penalty in the shootout was typical, of course. A tiny part of him will be relieved Curtis Jones – who had a stinker in extra-time – missed too. Jota and Darwin’s shortcomings are significant in the Salah debate, because how the hell is this guy going to break the Premier League assist record playing alongside them?
Even Luis Diaz has gone off the boil after a brilliant start to the season. Cody Gakpo has been the only consistent attacker in the Liverpool squad along with Salah, improving massively following the arrival of his Dutch compatriot Slot after stuttering under Klopp.
Defeat to PSG highlighted Diaz and Darwin’s lack of intelligence and end product as well as Jota’s lack of impact. There are similarities between Diaz and Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli, who are quick on the ball but often make the wrong decision or take the ball into the wrong area. Not all South Americans are blessed with Joga Bonito.
Although he was unable to inspire Liverpool against the French champions, Salah should avoid criticism and garner praise instead. His numbers this season were already legendary but look even more impressive after his team-mates were exposed on the biggest stage.
Not only does Salah’s season now look even better, but the Reds’ and Slot’s maiden Premier League campaign does too. They are 15 points clear of Arsenal in second in what should have been a difficult, transitional period following the resignation of club legend Klopp. Slot has made light work of the situation, simultaneously making every other ‘Big Six’ club look pathetic.
Salah has 17 assists in the league this season and is set to smash Thierry Henry’s record of 20 in 2002/03 – all while playing alongside attacking players who have yet to reach double figures for goals or even log five Premier League assists.
It’s a wonder Salah did not have a hunchback when leaving the pitch on Tuesday night; he has been carrying a whole lot of weight on his shoulders.