‘In his armchair’: Graeme Souness is factually wrong about Mohamed Salah’s form for Liverpool

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Graeme Souness believes Mohamed Salah is in very poor form right now. His ‘armchair’ comments are wide of the mark, however.

Graeme Souness wonders if Mohamed Salah is a little bit unmotivated this season. The Liverpool legend isn’t impressed with what he’s seeing and had some pretty harsh criticism for the Egyptian.

“I’m looking at Salah. I look at Salah for Liverpool against Manchester United, in the first couple of minutes Martinez goes right through him and the rest of the game, Salah goes looking for him,” Souness told Sky Sports.

“And i’ve not seen the same Mo Salah this year and I just hope, he’s signed a big contract that he wanted and at this level, if you knock off by one or half a percent you’re not the same player.

“I hope it’s not him getting semi in his armchair. And I’m saying that as a Liverpool supporter, hopefully to make him angry and prove me wrong.”

We do get what Souness is doing there. He’s trying to light a bit of a fire under Salah in an attempt to rejuvenate his form.

Only, the ex-captain has this one wrong. Salah isn’t out of form at all.

Mohamed Salah form

Salah isn’t scoring at his usual rate – that’s for sure. He’s also a little on the periphery of games and isn’t dominating as he does at his best.

But any claims that he’s poor right now are incorrect. For one, he’s got two goals and two assists in six Premier League games. It’s not exactly bad.

And the Egyptian could have more. There were at least two chances against Bournemouth that he should have put away. Salah easily could have had a late winner against Everton, too, if not for a wonderful Jordan Pickford save that tipped his effort onto the post.

That’s just poor luck that will turn around. The important thing is that he’s getting the chances.

Above all, though, Salah is still have a fantastic effect on the team. He’s created 20 chances in the Premier League this season, per FBref – more than any other player. In fact, it’s five more than any other player, with Ilkay Gundogan coming closest on 15 and then Kevin De Bruyne on 14.

So what we think is actually going on is teams putting a lot of attention on Salah. He’s being forced very wide at the moment, resulting in fewer scoring opportunities. He’s so good, however, that the winger pivots into being more of a creator – and he’s doing that at an incredible rate.

Salah isn’t out of form, then. He could still have a few more things fall his way, while less attention from defenders would unlock his game further. The latter only happens if others draw that attention away, though.

In other words, we’re not worried. The goals will come but Salah is unquestionably having a positive effect on the team. Just in a different way than you’d expect.