Mohamed Salah, a Potential Star Threatening the Dominance of Messi and Ronaldo

 By  Akhmad Zamroni

Source: Liverpool FC-Getty Images

The world of football at the end of 2017 and the first half of 2018 was shocked by the emergence and emergence of a new star named Mohamed Salah. Salah’s impressive and productive performances in the English Premier League and Champions League 2017-2018 earned him several best player awards. He is now considered one of the best and elite players in England, Europe and the world whose performances have amazed many coaches, observers and football fans and earned him high praise.

The player who is grazing with Liverpool seems to be able to erase the star tradition of European football which has been dominated by players from Europe itself and Latin America. The arrival of Mohamed Salah from Egypt --- (an African country) began to shift the “tradition” of star football in the Blue Continent which lasted decades. Salah shows signs of being able to destabilize Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who for the last ten years have dominated European and world football.

In terms of achievements in the 2017-2018 Champions League, Salah has been able to surpass top and popular stars, such as Messi, Neymar, Greizmann, Pogba, Harry Kane, David Silva, Leroy Sane, Aguero, Cavani, Dybala, and Lewandowski because Salah has managed to bring Liverpool to the final of the highest club league competition in Europe to challenge Real Madrid. Unfortunately, in the final which was held on May 26 2018, in Kiev, Ukraine, Salah only appeared for about 27 minutes due to a serious injury to his left shoulder due to Sergio Ramos’ foul. However, in the unattractive final party, Salah’s last and toughest competitor, Ronaldo, also failed to score and appeared flat so that the competition between the two to become the world’s best player became fierce, tight, and unpredictable.

Set Many Records

Mohamed Salah, whose full name is Mohamed Salah Ghaly, was born in Basion, El Gharbia, Egypt, on June 15, 1992. Salah started his football career in 2002 at a local Egyptian club, El Mokawloon Sporting Club. Prior to 2010, his performance records for El Mokawloon were unknown. Only in 2010-2012 did he take 41 times for El Mokawloon scoring 11 goals.

On 1 July 2012 Salah moved to FC Basel --- at that time he arrived alone without mastering English or Swiss. At the club that won the Swiss League, he played until 2014 with 47 appearances scoring 9 goals and helped FC Basel retain the league title. On January 26, 2014 he was recruited by Chelsea coach, Jose Mourinho, for a transfer value of 14.85 million pounds (around Rp. 288.29 billion). Under the tutelage of the Portuguese coach, Salah only appeared 19 times in all competitions for Chelsea, scoring two goals and four assists.

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Salah was then loaned to the Italian Serie A League club, Fiorentina, for the period 2 February 2015–30 June 2015. Next, he was also loaned out to AS Roma during 6 August 2015–30 June 2016. At this club from the Italian capital he impressed: scored 15 goals and made 9 assists in 42 matches in all competitions. This feat earned him the title of the “Roma Player of the Season 2015-2016”.

Salah’s impressive achievement made AS Roma not think long about recruiting this 175 cm tall player. On July 1, 2016, AS Roma officially bought Salah from Chelsea for £ 13.5 million. In line with the increasing status of his presence in AS Roma, his contribution to “Wolf of Rome” (nicknamed AS Roma) is getting better. In the 2016-2017 season, he managed to record 19 goals and 15 assists in 41 matches in all competitions. His performance for AS Roma in lifting the team's game is considered very good so that the team that has been strengthened by Francesco Totti is able to survive in the top flight of the Serie A League.

After the end of the 2016-2017 season, Salah was recruited by Liverpool on July 1, 2017 at a price of 37.8 million pounds (around IDR 734.18 billion). Liverpool coach, Juergen Klopp, put him as a starting eleven to strengthen the midfield and Liverpool's power on the wing. Liverpool and Klopp are really lucky to sign this player.

Salah's age and playing ability are apparently showing his maturity when he joined Liverpool. At this legendary English club, he immediately showed his brilliant game. Not even one year playing for Liverpool, Salah managed to make many quite amazing records.

Until the end of the 2017-2018 Premier League season (mid-May 2018), he has scored 44 goals in all competitions for “The Red” (nicknamed Liverpool). In the Premier League, he scored 32 goals and 10 assists in 33 matches he played. In the FA Cup he scored 1 goal in 1 match, while in the 2017-2018 Champions League this bearded man who used to play as a midfielder or wing striker has scored 11 goals and 5 assists in 13 matches he played.

Source: https://esporte.ig.com.br

With his 32 goals record, Salah confirmed his position as the top scorer of the 2017-2018 Premier League season. He beat the record goals set by top stars, such as Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur; 30 goals), Sergio Aguero (Manchester City; 21 goals), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City; 20), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City; 18 goals) ), and Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United; 16 goals). As for the 11 goals in the 2017-2018 Champions League (including the goals he scored in the qualifying round), Salah has successfully buried big names, such as Edin Dzeko (AS Roma; 8 goals), Edinson Cavani (PSG; 7 goals), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur; 7 goals), Lionel Messi (Barcelona; 6 goals), Neymar (PSG; 6 goals), and Lewandowski (Bayern Munchen; 5 goals).

Salah's goal record in the 2017-2018 Champions League only lost to Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) who scored 15 goals. In the quality of individual play, Salah has proven capable of playing special in the Champions League. In the first leg of the 2017-2018 season semifinal when Liverpool beat AS Roma 5-2, Salah scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists.

With his 44 goals record for Liverpool in one season, Salah also aligned himself with legendary Liverpool players, Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. They are Liverpool players who can score more than 40 goals in one season. Rush was the last player to do so before Salah, namely in the 1983-1984 season scoring 47 goals, while Hunt scored 42 goals in the 1961-1962 season.

Salah is included in the list of Premier League players who have scored more than 30 goals in one season. Those already on the list are Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Kevin Phillips, Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez. Salah equaled the all-season Premier League goalscorer record for Alan Shearer (Blackburn Rovers, 1995-1996) Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, 2007-2008) and Luis Suárez (Liverpool, 2013-2014), all of whom scored 31 goals.

In scoring his 30th goal against Bournemouth in the Premier League, Salah became the African player with the record for most Premier League goals in a single season. The previous record holder was Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) who scored 29 goals for Chelsea in the 2019-2010 season. With 44 goals in all competitions, Salah also holds the record as the Premier League player with the most goals in a single season. He beat Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 42 goals for Manchester United in the 2007/2008 season.

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Prior to Salah’s arrival, Fernando Torres was the record holder as a Liverpool debutant with the most goals scored in a season. As a debutant, in the 2007-2008 season the transfer from Atletico Madrid scored 24 goals for Liverpool. However, Salah broke Torres’ record by scoring more than 30 goals. Together with another Liverpool striker from Brazil, Roberto Firmino, Salah also became the top scorer of “The Red” in one Champions League season, which is 10 goals --- and if 1 goal in the 2017-2018 Champions League qualifying round is counted (so that it becomes 11 goals. ), Salah beat Firmino.

Premier League Player of the Year and Prospective World Player of the Year Salah also played brilliantly for the Egyptian national team. He has appeared more than 50 times for Egypt both with the junior (U-20 and U-23) and senior teams. He scored more than 27 goals in various competitions, 11 of which he recorded in the 2018 African Zone World Cup qualifying round.

Salah became the key player and hero who qualified Egypt for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the group E Africa Zone continued party against Congo which ended 2-1 for Egypt’s advantage, Salah bought two Egyptian goals. Although there is still one match left in Group E, this victory ensures “The Pharaohs” (the nickname for the Egyptian team) qualifies for the 2018 World Cup finals. This success has become an antidote to the longing for the Egyptian people because for the previous 28 years the Egyptian national team was absent at the World Cup. –– Egypt last appeared in this quadrennial tournament at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

In the 2018 World Cup Salah did not appear fit and maximal due to the influence of the shoulder injury he suffered in the 2017-2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid. However, he was still able to score two goals in the group stage. He scored one goal when Egypt defeated Russia 3-1, another goal he scored when his team were beaten by Saudi Arabia with a score of 1-2.

Mo Salah’s brilliant performances with the Egyptian and Liverpool national teams led him to be named the 2017 African Player of the Year on 4 January 2018. In the election he managed to outperform his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane and Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Three days earlier (1 January 2018), Salah was also named the 2017 Arab Player of the Year.

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Playing brilliantly with Liverpool in almost every match also made Salah the first player in the Premier League to win the Player of the Month award three times in one season. He successfully won the “Player of the Month” title for November 2017 and February 2018 and March 2018. Ultimately, on 22 April 2018 this curly-haired man was awarded the title of “Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Player of the Year 2017-2018” or “2017-2018 Premier League Player of the Year”. Based on voting among Premier League professional players, Salah's vote outperformed other Premier League stars, such as Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane, Leroy Sane, David Silva, Sergio Aguero, David De Gea, Paul Pogba, Roberto Firmino , Sadio Mane, Gabriel Jesus, Marcus Rashford, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, and Romelu Lukaku.

It can be said that currently the Premier League competition is the best league in the world. The Spanish La Liga does have the best teams and players in the world which can be seen in Barcelona and Real Madrid and in Messi and Ronaldo, but the competition between teams and between the stars in this league in the last ten years has been dominated by these figures alone (Messi/Barcelona versus Ronaldo/Real Madrid, or the occasional Atletico Madrid) so the competition is relatively unbalanced, tight and tense. This is different from the Premier League, which apart from being enlivened by world class players (including the move from La Liga), the competition between stars and teams is also much more even and balanced, resulting in fierce, tight and tense competition.

By becoming the best player in the Premier League, Salah automatically enters the elite and best players in the world. By being the best in England and having also surpassed Messi and Neymar in the Champions League, practically Salah has entered the competition to become the best player in the world 2018 with the world’s top players. The winners will not only be determined by appearances in the 2017-2018 Champions League and 2018 World Cup, as well as in the domestic league.

FIFA itself has announced the ten best candidates for the world player 2018 on July 24 2018. One of the players chosen by the world football federation is Mohamed Salah. The other nine players are Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Antoine Griezmann (France), Eden Hazard, Harry Kane (England), Kylian Mbappe (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Luka Modric (Croatia), and Raphael Varane (France). Of the ten players, FIFA will reduce it to three finalists in early September 2018.The winner of the 2018 World Player of the Year award will be announced at The Best FIFA Football Awards in London, England, on 24 September 2018.

Salah has the advantage of age and momentum factors. Currently he is at the peak of the maturity of a football player (25 years), while momentum, his performance on the field is also at the peak of his fire and ambition, enthusiasm and self-confidence because he has won many records, several times was chosen as the best player, and brought the team he defended (Liverpool and Egypt) to high level competition. The weakness is that the national team he defends does not yet have a tradition of high achievement at the world level.

Source: https://www.sportswallah.com

Praise for False

Salah’s impressive performance earned him a lot of praise. Fellow players, coaches, and former football stars gave many positive appreciation to the frizzy haired player. They generally place Salah in the category of world’s top footballer.

The former AS Roma and Italian national team star, Francesco Totti, stated, “At his current level of play, he is one of the best players in the world. I think he will continue to get better.” Totti admitted that he knew Mohamed Salah well and he considered Salah a good friend and kept trying to develop. It’s wrong to do well, train hard, and listen to the coach. “Therefore, no matter how good his game is at the moment, he will still develop one more level,” continued Totti.

AS Roma midfielder who is a former teammate of Salah, Kevin Strootman, said, “Now Salah has very high self-confidence and can create opportunities for himself so he can easily score goals. He is an extraordinary man on and off the pitch.” Strootman’s statement was issued ahead of the 2017-2018 Champions League semi-final match between AS Roma and Liverpool. “Salah also did an amazing job in the national team. I think, right now Salah is king in Egypt and the people there want to elect him to be president,” said Strootman half jokingly.

Salah’s teammate at Liverpool who was also one of Croatia’s important players at the 2018 World Cup, Dejan Lovren, even considered Salah the world’s best player who surpassed Ronaldo and Messi. Lovren believes Salah deserves the top individual award in football, on par with Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. “He can penetrate the top three best players in the world. He has this world-class experience,” said Lovren.

Former Manchester United and England national team back Rio Ferdinand likes Salah’s way and style. “Mohamed Salah has been very efficient this year,” said Ferdinand. “He is fun to watch and a fantastic addition to the Premier League. Mohamed Salah makes people sit down to have fun, it’s beautiful to look at,” he said.

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The legendary Liverpool player, Kenny Dalglish, is very happy to see Mohamed Salah’s performance at Liverpool. According to him, Salah’s role was not only scoring goals for Liverpool. “Salah is fantastic. He really did something that exceeded my expectations. You all know that Jurgen Klopp did not anticipate that Salah could score 39 goals until now,” he said. “He is still very humble despite the many goals scored. He’s still playing at the maximum and trying to give his best. He even does something when he's not in possession of the ball, that’s great. "

Another Liverpool legend, namely Gary McAllister, also paid tribute to Salah. He said that the Egyptian player was a special player for Liverpool in the 2017-2018 season competition. McAllister admitted that he did not expect Salah’s brilliant performance in his first season with Liverpool. He considered Salah as a versatile player with extraordinary ability and technique. “He (Salah) is indeed a special player, but I have to admit that his performances exceeded my predictions. He's an extraordinary player,” said McAllister.

One of Salah’s competitors in the Premier League as well as a competitor to win the world player award, Kevin De Bruyne, also gave praise. De Bruyne admits Salah’s performance this season has been phenomenal. Salah is a player who brings big changes to his team. “Salah has been listed as a goal-hungry player and he plays very well in all attacking positions. This season he has been extraordinary,” said the Belgian national team player.

Manchester United coach, Jose Mourinho, is one of those who admire Salah. He praised Salah as one of the fastest players in the world. “Egypt has, I don’t want to say the fastest, but I have to say, one of the fastest players in the world,” said Mou. “With the ball, without the ball, he can dribble, he can attack the space behind the line of the opposing defenders,” explained Mourinho.

And of course, the Liverpool coach, Juergen Klopp, did not miss his praise.  “We know Salah is a very offensive midfield player. I love the goals he created; I love the assists he creates. I really like this player. How he did everything well and thank God, he’s still healthy and fit,” Klopp said as quoted by the club’s official website.