It’s down to what the manager told him when he signed, which, surprisingly, wasn’t just “score lots of goals please”.
Steven Gerrard has revealed via the Liverpool website the reason he thinks Mohamed Salah is tearing up the Premier League this season, having scored 24 goals in only 28 appearances this season, comfortably the best tally of his career to date.
Gerrard thinks that the reason the Egyptian maestro is bagging so many goals is a result of his movement from outside-in, attacking the penalty area rather hugging the touch line during attacking moves. He thinks this is down to Klopp himself, who he suggests insisted that he wanted the winger be more than just that when he arrived at Anfield at the start of the season.
“When Jürgen signed him he has said to him, ‘I don’t want you stuck out wide on the wings creating for other people, I want you to be the main man. You’re going to be the top scorer in this team, so attack the sticks and attack central areas'”, Gerrard explained.
Image credit GettyIt was something the former England and Liverpool captain was guilty of himself in the earlier stages of his career – he was so keen to have an impact on the game that he would try and cover every blade of grass rather than specifically picking and choosing his runs, which he did to great effect as his legs began to fade, most notably as a number 10 behind Fernando Torres.
“In my younger days I’d be running round everywhere on the pitch trying to impress. But as I got a bit older I started getting a bit more selfish, making runs centrally. If the ball went out wide, always attack areas where you can get goals. That’s where my numbers as a midfielder grew. And that’s what Jürgen has done to him” said the current Liverpool youth coach.
The key then, as always, is to be selfish. As if you needed Stevie G to tell you that, and not any semi-prolific five-a-side striker who shoots every time they touch the ball.
