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Liverpool news: Mohamed Salah’s secret revealed, Jurgen Klopp to thank for success
JURGEN KLOPP is the reason Mohamed Salah has been such a success at Liverpool.
Mo Salah: There's no expectations for him this season says Klopp
That’s the opinion of Salah’s fellow Egyptian and former Premier League forward Mido.
Salah enjoyed a sensational first season on Merseyside last year with 44 goals in all competitions including a new top-flight record 32 - the most ever in a 38-game season - after joining from Roma for £37.9million.
The value of that deal had initially been questioned after a disappointing spell at Chelsea earlier in his career, but he quelled such doubts on his way to being crowned PFA Player of the Year.
His form, also providing 16 assists across all competitions, helped lead the Reds to the Champions League final and another fourth-placed finish with Real Madrid and Barcelona even linked with summer moves.
But the 26-year-old signed a new long-term deal to stay at Liverpool and got his second season off in style too, scoring the first goal of their 2018-19 campaign in a 4-0 rout of West Ham last weekend.
And with plenty of questions raised over whether the Egyptian international can repeat his goalscoring heroics of last term, Mido believes that Klopp is the man to thank for his extraordinary form at Anfield until now.
And that’s because of the lesser defensive demands asked of Salah in comparison to his team-mate and his role within the Liverpool front line.
“I had a bit of doubt about him coming back to England and doing well to be honest,” Mido, who enjoyed spells in England with Tottenham, Middlesbrough, Wigan and West Ham, told Sky Sports’ Transfer Talk podcast.
“I saw him at Chelsea and it’s true it was an early step for him and it’s true he didn’t get enough chances to prove himself, but he wasn’t that good.
I think the key of Salah’s success last season is Jurgen Klopp.
“So when he came at Liverpool I was a little bit worried that he wouldn’t do well because the Premier League is not easy. Everyone’s got pace here.
“I think the key of Salah’s success last season is Jurgen Klopp. Because Jurgen Klopp put him in the right position.
“If you see Salah he was a winger at Chelsea, he was a winger at Roma, he was a winger at Fiorentina, even at Basel. He was a line player - he gets the ball one-v-one and he was far from the goal.
“But Jurgen Klopp has been very clever with the way he has made him play, made him tuck in, made him play like a second striker on the right, always close to the goal, always in that link-up position.
“But the best thing Jurgen Klopp has done for him is that he doesn’t make him work hard when he doesn’t have the ball.
“He doesn’t defend a lot so he’s always fresh. If you see him, always when he’s playing there on the right, there is Milner there behind him.
“He doesn’t need to track back with the full-backs for 50-60 yards. That was what made him knackered sometimes at Chelsea.
“Now it’s a different player and he’s developed as a person as well. I think going to Italy made him a bigger person.”
Salah and Liverpool return to action on Monday night when they face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park (8pm).