Reds sign Egyptian ‘Messi’ Mohamed Salah
PHARAOH AT ANFIELD . . . Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah completed his move to Liverpool on Thursday

PHARAOH AT ANFIELD . . . Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah completed his move to Liverpool on Thursday

LIVERPOOL – When Roma presented their new coach Eusebio Di Francesco last Tuesday, sporting director Monchi decided to lay down a marker to clubs looking to plunder the Giallorossi’s best talent.

The newly-arrived Spaniard wants to build on the work carried out by new Inter Milan boss Luciano Spalletti, who led Roma to second in the Italian Serie A and the Champions League soccer group stages, establishing a club record points total in the process.

“Roma is not a supermarket,” he said. “Roma is a team that will represent Italy in Europe. Our idea is to keep as good a team as possible.”

The only star player up for sale, he said, was Mohamed Salah (who had asked to leave some time before), and if Liverpool wanted him, they had to pay high-end boutique prices.

With a deal done worth €45 million once bonuses are factored in – the most Roma have ever received for a player and way above Liverpool’s initial €32 million bid Monchi can be very satisfied with his strategy, while Liverpool have themselves an exciting, lightning fast but erratic attacker who has nonetheless just finished his finest ever season and at 25, still has his best years ahead of him.

Despite missing nearly two months (seven games) of last season through both injury and his national team reaching the final of the African Nations Cup, Salah racked up 19 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for Roma, and was one of Serie A’s most effective players.

His 2.3 key passes per game last season (71 in total over 31 league appearances) put him second to Atalanta’s Papu Gomez, while only Napoli’s Jose Callejon made more league assists – 12 to Salah’s 11. That puts the Egyptian above Gomez and the more lauded likes of Marek Hamsik, Lorenzo Insigne and Paulo Dybala.

Over the course of his two year spell in the Italian capital, Salah made 17 assists in Serie A – more than any other Roma player – and scored 34 goals in all competitions, second only to Edin Dzeko’s 49 strikes. No wonder Roma played hardball with the Reds and won. Of last season’s 11 league assists, seven were for Dzeko, and their partnership was a key reason behind the Bosnian’s rise from laughing stock to Italy’s capocannoniere.

Salah’s other assist, in the 4-0 destruction of Villarreal in the Europa League, was emblematic of his on-field relationship with the No.9.

Sent charging down the right just three minutes after replacing Stephan El Shaarawy and with Roma only a goal ahead, Salah raced to the byline before cutting back a pass which allowed Dzeko to let the ball run across his body completely befuddling AC Milan-bound Mateo Musacchio before calmly rolling past Sergio Asenjo to bag the first of a spectacular hat-trick against La Liga’s second best defence.

To look at his highlights is to see a player already equipped for the highest level of football, but what strikes the viewer most watching him over 90 minutes is his margin for improvement. AC Milan coach Vincenzo Montella said that “perhaps only Messi is faster than him with the ball at his feet,” after signing him on loan as Fiorentina boss, but he still doesn’t fully exploit his frightening pace.

More composed finishing would have seen him finish much higher up in the pack behind top scorer Dzeko, while too often his bursts down the right ended in a weak cross, or a simple lay-off after cutting back onto his left, wasting the advantage his speed had gained him and allowing the opposition backline to reset.

Another issue is where Jurgen Klopp will play him.

Salah prefers to play out on the right despite being strongly left-footed and didn’t start a single game on the left last season, although he was sometimes deployed centrally by Spalletti. This puts him in direct competition with Sadio Mane, who had a fine season of his own in the very position Salah occupies for Roma. Mane will probably have to be shifted to the left to accommodate Salah.

One of Liverpool’s big problems last season was breaking down teams that sat back, in particular at home.

Salah’s true strengths are his speed and tight dribbling against a backtracking defence, and playing in between the centre-back and full-back.

His is also extremely one-footed, and given that his preferred position is on the right, where he can cut in and shoot with his preferred left in the same manner as Arjen Robben, that leads to a lot of wasted final balls. – ESPN.

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