How it feels to face Mohamed Salah: ‘I was just hoping he didn’t play’

Sports

add

Mohamed Salah is Liverpool’s evergreen creative machine.

He’s a Premier League winner again, the top goalscorer in the division, and the man with the most assists. At 32, he is showing no signs of fatigue, either. Salah has started every game for Liverpool this season and after winning the Football Writers’ Association player-of-the-year award, he has now scooped the one he’s long been waiting for… The Athletic’s men’s player of the year title.

And he is not going anywhere. His contract extension with Liverpool means top-flight defenders are set to be haunted by the thought of nullifying his skills until at least 2027.

Salah is one of the most discussed and analysed players in the world game but what is it really like to face him? The Athletic has spoken to a range of players — both past and present opponents, and team-mates he faces every day in training — to gain a unique perspective on what makes him one of football’s most lethal forwards.

Finishing

For a large part of this season, the theme of Liverpool’s dominance at the top of the table centred around Salah’s finishing. He scored 30 goals in the first 38 games, displaying a ruthless streak few, if any, could live with.

A goal on the opening day of the season at Ipswich Town, the equalising strike at Arsenal when the title race was wide open, and a brace at Southampton all arrived at crucial moments. Even his ‘off’ days were productive: Salah only had one touch in the Everton penalty area during February’s Merseyside derby. Needless to say, it yielded a goal.

It sparked Everton manager, David Moyes, to question whether anything could be done to tame him when the teams met again weeks later. “We could try and build a wall or something,” he suggested in his post-match press conference.

Speak to Premier League defenders, though, and there is a weariness that stems from knowing that there is little that can stop him. “It’s very difficult because he’s one of the best players in the world,” suggests Calvin Bassey, the Fulham centre-half. “You just have to be concentrated, stay focused on the task, stay present and just try to aggravate him.”

Calvin Bassey stands up to Mohamed Salah for Fulham (Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)

Fulham are one of just two teams to have denied Salah a Premier League goal this season (the other, Crystal Palace, travel to Anfield on Sunday), with Bassey a stand-out performer alongside Antonee Robinson in a 3-2 victory over Liverpool in April.

Salah’s edge in front of goal has not always been razor-sharp, however. His former Egypt team-mate Gedo remembers a player who “scored two goals from five chances” in his youth at Al Mokawloon. The fact that Salah is now, in his view, “one of the best goalscorers in the world” comes as something of a surprise.

By the time he moved to Switzerland, with FC Basel, that development was well underway. Andris Vanins, the former FC Sion goalkeeper who played against Salah six times (five times in the Swiss Super League and once in the Swiss Cup), recalls a feeling of dread after watching video analysis of the young winger.

“I was just hoping he didn’t play,” he says, laughing. “What I found out, as he scored against me, was that I didn’t know when he would shoot. You have to be attentive. He can shoot when you think it’s not possible because the angle is closed, but he finds a solution. He finds a moment, especially between the legs of the defender and then you are out.”

There is a directness to Salah which opponents find disconcerting. Kepa, the Bournemouth goalkeeper on loan from Chelsea, told Sky Sports that it seems “everything is going very fast” when you are confronted by Salah, despite his strengths being so well documented.

Antonio Rudiger played two seasons with Salah at Roma between 2015 and 2017, and told the Inside Scoop podcast that he noticed a profound change in Salah’s style after their first year together in Italy — a change from “a lot of dribbling and beating men one-vs-one” to being “very direct, he just wanted goals and assists”.

Salah goes up against Antonio Rudiger in a match against Chelsea (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

It was in Rome where Salah spent hours in the garden honing his finishing technique and performing breathing exercises to ease any nerves in front of goal.

They have paid off handsomely: Salah is now fifth in the all-time list of Premier League top goalscorers with 185, and should — fitness permitting — have been able to surpass Harry Kane’s tally of 213 by the time his new contract expires.

“In the Premier League, you have these players who can be quiet for 89 minutes and all they need is that one chance, and when it comes, you know, they’re taking it,” says Liam Cooper, the Leeds United centre-half who watched Salah score nine times in six games against his side.

“It’s so difficult in the game to limit these top players to chances and with elite players like Salah, it’s so difficult to prepare and keep him quiet for the whole game, because even when you think you’ve done it, he produces something special.”

Positioning

It is not just how Salah finishes his chances that leaves his opponents torn between frustration and respect, but how he gets into the position to take them.

“He is the best player right now, isn’t he?” says Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, a left-back Liverpool have also got their eye on as a transfer target this summer.

Salah recorded seven shots on target in two games against Bournemouth this season, ducking and weaving through Andoni Iraola’s defence and proving a constant menace. But clever runs in behind and his ability to cut into central areas from his starting position wide on the right have been causing opponents problems for years.

“I hadn’t heard about him and was surprised by his level,” Gedo recalls, when asked for his memories of the first time he faced Salah with Al Ahly in December 2010, on the forward’s second senior start.

“He started disturbing our defence with his pace and skills. He was Al Mokawloon’s main source of threat because he was fast and there were spaces, which he exploited well. He scored from attacking those spaces (in behind).”

In an interview with Sky Sports in 2023, Salah said that Cesar Azpilicueta, his former team-mate at Chelsea, is the toughest defender he has faced and the feeling is reciprocated. The Spaniard first came up against him in 2013, when Salah scored for Basel against Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Europa League, and was struck by the intelligence of his movement.

“You could already see he was a standout player,” Azpilicueta says. “It is difficult to have just one idea of stopping him as he is capable of making runs in behind the defence, and also of taking you on, and can go either way.”

Salah named Cesar Azpilicueta as one of his toughest opponents (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)

Defenders have tried varying tactics to stop him since — Rudiger, for example, man-marked him in typically rugged fashion in 2022 while at Chelsea — but that is easier said than done, with Salah’s speed being another element of his game that drives opponents to distraction.

“He is a player who can unbalance you,” says Pervis Estupinan, the Brighton & Hove Albion full-back who faced Salah with Villarreal in the Champions League semi-final in 2022 and since in the Premier League. “You don’t know where he can be. You have to be 100 per cent concentrated.”

Bassey admits that it is difficult to know whether to stay tight to Salah or drop off. “It depends on the situation and the pressure on the ball,” he says. “We know he can spin in behind, he’s so quick, so it’s just a case of being clever.”

Fulham used Robinson and Alex Iwobi to double up on Salah this season and it prevented him having a single shot on target over the course of their two Premier League games.

Leicester City’s Luke Thomas also had joy against Salah. On one memorable night at the King Power Stadium in December 2021, the left-back was so good in a 1-0 victory that team-mate James Maddison filmed him in the dressing room after the game and posted an Instagram story saying: “Stop checking what everyone’s saying about your performance versus Salah, bro.”

Luke Thomas impressed against Salah in December 2021 (Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images)

Thomas laughs at the memory now and is proud of his efforts but is under no illusion as to how difficult it is to contain Salah. “His pace is the threat and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time,” he says. “He had a late one-on-one where I lost him on the counter and that’s where he’s a threat.

“He stays up quite a lot and Liverpool take advantage of that because they know he’s always there and someone has to stay back on him. I think he cheats a little bit (by not tracking back) but with his qualities I don’t blame him. As a defender, you know he’s the main man so you’ve got to stop him at all costs.”

Mentality

Perhaps Salah’s greatest strength is a combination of his faith and self-belief. The ex-Liverpool defender, Ragnar Klavan — who shared a dressing room with the Egyptian in Salah’s first season at Liverpool in 2017-18 — remembers his early interactions with the squad and how pumped-up he was to succeed.

“He had a straightforward thinking that he wants to be the greatest,” Klavan recalls. “You could see it in his eyes, his determination.” 

Salah used to deal with adversity in a different way but now smiles when he misses a chance after taking advice from Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson early in his Anfield career. He has also tweaked his game to become more of a “moment” player in his later years.

Before each game, he prays. He learned about visualisation from reading a book on American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian with 23 gold medals, and he spends time researching opponents, particularly goalkeepers, so he can maintain a competitive edge.

Ben Foster, the former Watford goalkeeper, gave an insight into Salah’s psychology on his video blog, The Cycling GK. Recalling a match against Liverpool in 2021, which Watford lost 5-0 and Salah delivered a standout performance, Foster said: “He asked me: ‘If I’d got a penalty, which way would you have dived?’ So, not content with winning the game 5-0 and scoring a goal, being man of the match and scoring an unbelievable goal. He has to know the tiny, little details about in his next game, if he gets that penalty, which way he should put it.”

Salah had an unusual question for Ben Foster after playing against him (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

More often than not, Salah tends to let his football do the talking. Kerkez was struck by how Salah “doesn’t speak at all, he is silent and focused on the game” while Cooper says he “just leads by example, with an elite mentality”.

There is, however, the odd interaction. In an interview with The Athletic earlier this season, Fulham’s Robinson revealed what the Egyptian had said to him after he had performed well against him in a 2-2 draw in August 2022.

“I remember him saying to me midway through the game, ‘How old are you?’,” he said. “So he didn’t really know who I was. I must have been 24, 25. He just nodded and carried on with the game. Then, after the game, I asked for his shirt, so we swapped shirts and we were just chatting and he was like, ‘You were the best player this game, keep up what you’re doing’. That was very nice of him.”

Physicality

“His overall size surprised me the most,” recalls Cooper, who played in a famous 2-1 win for Leeds over Liverpool but also watched from the sidelines as Salah scored a hat-trick in a 4-3 win in September 2020. He was also on the bench during braces in 6-1 and 6-0 victories in April 2023 and February 2022. “Obviously, he’s not tall but the strength he had when he was protecting the ball, looking after the ball, or running was incredible.”

Surprise at Salah’s physical prowess, despite his relatively short stature (he is around 5ft 9in/175cm) is commonplace among opponents he has faced. “People think he is small but when he leans in with his body, he’s strong,” Kerkez says. “He’s really tough to play against because of this.”

Years of tailor-made gym work has helped Salah achieve the physical gains he so desperately felt he needed when he was a Chelsea player first making his way in the Premier League. He knew he needed to catch up with others who were more imposing and after spending time in Italy, first on loan with Fiorentina and then with Roma, his gym work was fully ingrained in his life by the time he signed for Liverpool.

Young players watched in awe as Salah arrived into training early each morning to work on strengthening his abdominal muscles and improving flexibility. His conditioning is such that even fasting during Ramadan is not an impediment to him starting consistently for Liverpool.

Salah’s conditioning work is legendary (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

“He helped set an example,” says Leighton Clarkson, now at Aberdeen. “Sometimes it was just Salah and (Sadio) Mane in the gym wearing their Under Armour gear and working hard.”

At home, Salah has two rooms full of gym equipment including a treadmill, exercise bike, free weights, a small pilates reformer machine and fixed resistance machines.

“Physically, he became stronger — which is clear in his muscles — while maintaining his flexibility,” says Gedo, now the assistant manager of Pyramids FC in the Egyptian Premier League.

When Arne Slot first arrived at Liverpool, he was blown away by Salah’s attitude and professionalism. The first team’s lead physical performance coach, Ruben Peeters, could not believe Salah’s numbers in pre-season training tests and drills and the Dutchman continues to be impressed by his matchday output, durability and speed of recovery.

“What I see is a top professional, not only what you see on the pitch but he comes in early, works so hard on his body and even at home as well,” Slot said before the game against Newcastle United in February. “He has found the balance to get the best out of himself and knows what to do to treat his body in the best possible way for him to get such high-level performances.”

Cooper, now playing for CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria, recalls conversations with Salah’s team-mate, Robertson, on Scotland international duty and explains how the respect for him is widespread.

“People don’t give him enough credit for the way he looks after himself and the way he applies himself,” Cooper says. “I find it so impressive that when he is fasting for Ramadan, he still manages to live this lifestyle. He manages himself so well and still is able to train hard and get into the gym and that tells you everything about him. He’s the ultimate professional.”

Additional reporting: Ahmed Walid, Dermot Corrigan, Caoimhe O’Neill, Rob Tanner

(Top photo: Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

Share on

email

Previous

trending_flat

Are FIFA and UEFA in a forever war?

Sports

Next

trending_flat

Europa League final, Spurs vs Man Utd: Who needs it more – and who do rival fans want to win?

Sports