Mo mentus

ARTICLE BY Alan Cronin

I have to wonder about some supporters when they question Mo Salah. Question whether he’s the same player these days, question his loss of pace, question his annual downturn in form in the final months of the season. Every summer it’s “should we cash in. He’s not the same player.” I think a lot of fans love to come up with conspiracy theories about something behind the scenes rather than a simple thing like a downturn in form. This has been going on for as long as I can remember and each time I’m thinking do none of ye remember the last time he was written off. It was only a few weeks ago that I was reading some Sage on This Is Anfield note that the “goals have stopped coming”. I’ve even seen games this season where he was brilliant and not scored and plenty were saying he was terrible and past it.

Is this current version of Mo the best version, goalscorer and creator supreme? He always bagged plenty of assists but some of the passes he now has in his locker forwards are not supposed to be capable of. It’s a skill usually associated with the best midfielders in the world, prime Modric stuff even. He’s still scoring the same types of goals he always has done and you only have to ask Leon Bailey about his lack of pace (look away now  David Coote) He’s still breaking records seemingly every week and the incentive for Mo now if he gets his new contract is to aim for even more. Next in his sights are football royalty really, Roger Hunt and Thiery Henry. Who knows if he manages to wrangle a six year contract out of those stingy FSG types Ian Rush might even sleep a little less soundly. One thing I havent been a fan of with Mo is is the drama that surrounds his future . The cryptic tweets, teasing and videos celebrating him extending his contract I find very annoying but once he keeps doing it on the pitch I’ll gladly turn a blind eye to all of that. I do believe that money has never been his biggest motivation though. He has given interviews before how happy his family is in Liverpool and I’m a firm believer that he loves the club and wants to become an all time great here.

I’ve been thinking lately whatever this season brings, hopefully Mo driving us to a league title, where does this elevate him to in the eyes of Reds supporters? Certainly for me our greatest Premier league player marginally ahead of Stevie. Beyond that how high though, the top 2 is pretty much set in stone for long time reds with Dalglish undisputed No 1 and Rush in second place. Id probably have to call it a tie for third with Mo and John Barnes maybe Mo even squeezes Digger down to fourth and Stevie would complete the top 5. Others may argue that Phil Neal, Souness or other favourites from that era deserve a place in the top 5. Who knows what the future holds for Mo and Liverpool but I’m not prepared to say goodbye, not for a long time. 

Over to you then John Henry and chums, This Means Mo.