Mohamed Salah will be remembered as a legend of Liverpool Football Club, but Didi Hamann has questioned how effective the Egyptian will continue to be.
No current Liverpool player has done as much for the club as Mohamed Salah. Even at the age of 32 last season, he bagged 29 goals and 19 assists in the Premier League and hitting double digits in both columns is standard procedure for the winger.
Salah already has three goals and three assists in all competitions this season, but former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar ‘Didi’ Hamann believes the 33-year-old dropped off a bit last season and could continue to decline as he is only getting older.
Hamann told Grosvenor Casinos: “Salah found it hard to score from open play in the second half of last season. Once you get past 30, and he’s 33 now, there aren’t an awful lot of players scoring on a consistent basis in the Premier League.
“You’ve got Robert Lewandowski, who does it, and you’ve got Harry Kane; in the Premier League, you don’t. Salah was a freak of nature, very rarely injured, and the numbers he got.
“But I think everything will deteriorate at some stage, and I think we saw it at times last season.”
Hamann believes Liverpool’s new big money signings could steal the spotlight from Salah and is worried that playing him alongside the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak could be a hindrance rather than a help.
“Again, this year, he hasn’t found it easier to score goals, creating or getting chances,” Hamann continued. “The dynamics changed as well because in the past, Salah was the guy they looked for.
“Now it might be Wirtz, even though he’s had a very disappointing start to his Liverpool career. And now with Isak coming in, obviously, there are two ways of seeing it.
“You can say there’s another guy taking attention and maybe taking balls away from Salah. On the other hand, you can say maybe it gives him a bit more space because they have to look after two or three top players. My gut feeling is that the arrival of Isak won’t improve Salah’s numbers.”
Salah was only named on the bench as Liverpool travelled to Istanbul to take on Galatasaray. He was brought on shortly after the hour mark as the visitors trailed by a single goal, but the Egypt international was unable to provide the missing link his side required and ultimately lost the game 1-0.
It is likely that Salah will continue to start in the Premier League, and on Saturday with a trip to Chelsea on the horizon it’s another opportunity for the Egyptian to silence the critics.
