If there were still questions over whether Mohamed Salah could rediscover his dazzling best, Graeme Souness believes he already knows the answer.
‘What happens, in my opinion and in my experience, is your career happens one of two ways. When you get to that sort of 33-34 age area, it’s either falling off a cliff, or it’s a slow decline. I think Salah is the former,’ Souness tells Daily Mail Sport.
‘I went to see the very first game of the season, the Community Shield against Crystal Palace, and I was sitting next to my young son, I said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him?” And then I thought, maybe he needs half a dozen games to get up to speed.
‘But he’s never improved. His numbers tell you that. His numbers are way down, and he is the single biggest reason why Liverpool are having an indifferent season. Because within that group of players, there’ll be some that are feeling the pain, some are feeling the negativity that’s around the place, and they’re not responding very well to it.
‘And when you’re in that position, you need big players to stand up and be counted. And I think that’s been a bit of a shock to Liverpool supporters, the manager and coaching staff, that those guys have not done that.’
Indeed, 33-year-old Salah’s numbers this season do not paint a pretty picture. His 10 goals and nine assists in all competitions, while a fair return among your average Premier League players, stand in stark contrast to seasons past. At this point last campaign Salah was at 44 goal contributions, 34 the season before that. In fact, Salah’s lowest goal involvement tally prior to this season’s 19 was 27 in both 2018-19 and 2019-20.
‘His best is behind him now, there’s no doubt about that. The first person to know that is yourself, and it happens to everyone. I don’t see the same sparkle. I think if you’re looking for the single biggest reason (for Liverpool’s shaky form), it’s because he’s not been getting the numbers.
‘He’s been for six, seven years the Liverpool go-to man. He has completely changed games when it wasn’t going their way, and he has scored a ridiculous number of goals every season. He’s a great – a Liverpool great – but his best season is behind him.’
That verdict naturally leads to the next question: what should Liverpool do about it? With that, Souness delivers an unequivocal ‘yes’ to whether Salah should leave at the end of the season, despite the Egypt international’s contract running up until 2027.
While that stance may unsettle some supporters, performances on the pitch have done little to soften Souness’ outlook. It is timely, then, that Liverpool have just swept aside Souness’ other former (managerial) side Galatasaray to book their place in the Champions League quarter-finals, although the Scotsman remains unconvinced about their chances of going all the way.
‘I thought Galatasaray were exceptionally poor. I expected so much more from them. They didn’t believe they could get a result,’ said Souness, who won three European Cups during his time with Liverpool.
‘And Liverpool, okay, you can only beat what’s in front of you but Liverpool are not the same team as last year. Wednesday night was a good game for them because the opposition was so weak.’
Looking beyond Liverpool, Souness’ views on the wider title picture are no less forthright. So then how about stronger opposition – say, Arsenal?
‘I think Arsenal will win the league.’
The quadruple as well?
‘No, but they’re a pragmatic team. They know how to win football matches, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ve won leagues and were we always the prettiest outfit? No, we just got the job done. And no one will remember how we did it. And will they evolve? Yeah. But they’re not a team that the rest of the league enjoy playing against, because they’ll test you to your limits.’
As for their reliance on ‘set-piece guru’ Nicolas Jover, who has helped make them become the most lethal team from set-pieces in the top-flight, Souness doesn’t hold back.
‘Arsenal get away with a hell of a lot by crowding goalkeepers and blocking goalkeepers. You block anyone on the pitch, anywhere else on the pitch – a centre-half half blocks a centre forward as he’s trying to make a run – and that’s a foul.
‘I just think we’ve got daft referees. We’ve got poor referees who don’t really understand the game. They know all the rules from the first page to the last one, but nuances of the game they don’t get.
‘I love the term ‘free-kick guru’. Their guru (Jover) is all about fouling the goalkeeper. That’s as simple as, black and white. Now, of course, there’s people like Gabriel Saliba who are really brave and will put their heads where most people wouldn’t put their feet, and they attack these balls that Declan Rice whips in, and they’re great quality.
‘To be successful at free kicks you need a really good kicker of the ball, Declan, you need people who will attack the ball, they’ve got that, and then you throw in the guy who’s fouling the goalkeeper. It’s not rocket science.’
And while Jover draws criticism for Arsenal’s methods, Souness is similarly unconvinced by what he has seen from Chelsea of late.
‘Chelsea are – I don’t know what they are,’ he adds. ‘Chelsea are a group of young men put together with no real direction. I think the manager (Rosenior) tries too hard with his terminology. Giving players “assignments”. If the manager said that to me, I’d have laughed at him in his face.
‘I just think he tries too hard to be a top coach, with his body language and what he says. So no surprises for me, Chelsea going out (of the Champions League).’
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