Former Liverpool striker explains why he wouldn’t want Mo Salah as a teammate at Anfield
Former Liverpool striker Emile Heskey has explained why he wouldn’t like to have played in the same team as Mo Salah.
DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY
In nine years at Anfield, the Egyptian winger has become one of the Reds’ greatest-ever players, with a haul of 252 goals placing him third in the all-time scoring charts in L4, although his form this season has come in for widespread criticism.
With just seven goals in the current campaign, the 33-year-old is set to record by far his lowest yearly figure in a red shirt, and Steve Nicol has claimed that our legendary number 11 is now in ‘irreversible decline’.
Heskey on why he wouldn’t want Salah as a teammate
It isn’t because of that emphatic drop-off in output that Heskey is against the idea of having Salah as a teammate, but rather because he feels the Egyptian’s style of play would be incompatible with his main strengths from his own playing days.
The former Reds striker told OLBG (via Liverpool Echo): “I remember someone asking me a few years back, would you have liked to play with Mohamed Salah? I said probably not.
“I’d probably prefer to play with Trent [Alexander-Arnold] because I know he’s going to cross the ball for me. Mo’s not going to cross. Mo wants to score goals. We’ve gone from wingers who want to provide to wingers who want to score goals.”
Don’t be fooled into thinking Salah is a selfish goal hog
Whilst we understand Heskey’s argument about somone like Alexander-Arnold playing more to his strengths by sending in pinpoint crosses, it’d be inaccurate to portray Salah as a purely selfish goal merchant who’s only interested in scoring for himself.
According to lfchistory.net, his tally of 118 assists for Liverpool is the fourth-highest of any Reds player since the Second World War, and Transfermarkt cites the number at 121, which averages at roughly 13.5 per season.
The Egyptian mightn’t be an old-fashioned winger who sticks near the touchline and whips in crosses for a physically dominant centre-forward to finish off, but the numbers show that he still routinely creates chances for his teammates through his effervescent movement inside from the flanks.
How much longer Salah will be at Anfield to add to his already era-defining tallies is a pertinent question. Even though his contract runs to June 2027 (when he’ll turn 35), Gus Poyet, Richard Keys and Tim Sherwood have all claimed that this’ll be our number 11’s final season on Merseyside.
The winger may have had a significant drop-off in recent months from the stratospheric standards he’d previously set at Liverpool, but he’s still capable of elevating the Reds with decisive moments in matches.
Even if this is to be his final campaign in L4, there’s every chance that his contributions between now and May could prove the difference between his team enjoying a successful end to the season or falling short of their revised targets.
The post Former Liverpool striker explains why he wouldn’t want Mo Salah as a teammate at Anfield appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.