Mohamed Salah Just Needs “Confidence” to Get Back to His Best

According to Jamie Carragher, the Egyptian star is doing most things right in attack and there’s nothing to worry about.

Mohamed Salah is one goal off the pace he started last season—the season he scored 44 goals by the end of. It’s hardly terrible form, even if having started last year at a slightly more human pace than he ended it might make it fair to say he isn’t quite matching those heights.

Still, he’s scored a few and is getting chances. He’s making good runs and getting in the right positions to be dangerous in the attack. His play has, generally, been more than fine when it’s all added up. That’s what the numbers say, and that’s what ex-Red Jamie Carragher says, too.

“He’s not in great form, but I don’t think he’s really in bad form either,” Carragher noted on Sky. “I think a bit too much has probably been made of Salah’s form, and he is only one goal down on last season. I hope Jurgen Klopp is saying this to him about the goals he scored last season.

“If he doesn’t get over 40 goals it doesn’t mean he’s had a bad season. Ian Rush was Liverpool’s greatest ever goalscorer and he got 47 in one season. He never got 47 again, he would score 25 or 30 goals a season. If Salah gets 25 goals a season then he’s had a great season.”

If anything, Carragher thinks Salah might be lacking somewhat for of confidence following last season’s devastating injury in the Champions League final and then a disappointing World Cup campaign over the summer marred by a series of unwanted distractions for the Egyptian star.

He’s still, to Carragher’s eye, doing all of the good things he did at the end of last season when he was in the conversation for best in the world, at least off the ball and in the buildup phase of play. It’s just the confidence, maybe, that’s lacking. And with a few goals, that will come.

“Maybe he’s lacking a little bit of confidence in front of goal at but he’s still getting in there,” Carragher added. “If we think of last season, we were speaking of him playing narrow and making those penetrating runs. He’s still making them, he’s not hiding, he still wants the chances.

“I’ve got no problem with how many goals he’s scored or what he’s like around the box. He is doing okay.”

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com