Robbie Fowler has admitted that Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is ‘unique’ after seeing him snatch the Reds Premier League scoring record.
Salah’s Sunday double against Manchester United meant he overtook Fowler as Liverpool’s top scorer in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. 129 goals and counting.
Far from being bitter about it though, Fowler has paid tribute to the remarkable excellence of our Egyptian King.
“Mo’s stats are unbelievable. It’s not just the number of goals, it’s the incredible rate at which he’s got them. It’s all about standards. He’s set such ridiculously high ones in the past that when there’s a slight drop-off people are quick to question him,” the man known simply as ‘God’ told The Athletic.
“But he’s still leading the way. He’s still the most potent weapon. It’s hard to do what he’s done so consistently at the highest level for so long. He’s effectively a right-sided attacker rather than a striker. He’s unorthodox, but he’s uniquely brilliant.”
Mo sets the record straight
Fowler is right – Mo is unique. The rate at which he scores from a wide position is quite unlike anything before seen in the Premier League.
People will point to players like Thierry Henry or Cristiano Ronaldo proceeding Salah in this, but they’d be wrong.
Yes, Henry did have a tendency to attack from wide – usually from the left. But there’s no question that although he was a winger in his earlier days at Monaco and Juventus, he was very much a centre-forward at Arsenal.
Ronaldo is perhaps a more direct comparison to Salah. Even then though, by the time Cristiano was scoring bucket-loads at Manchester United, he was also playing more centrally. The Portugal icon only truly had one exceptional goal-scoring season in the Premier League anyway.
Our No.11 on the other hand has been slamming balls past unwitting ‘keepers for the last six years. Despite opposition defenders surrounding him game after game, Salah is still finding a way through.
This season may not have been a vintage one for Mo, but Sunday showed just how good he can still be. 22 goals in a season where Liverpool have struggled is quite remarkable. Hit 30, and he would reach that milestone for a third campaign running. Not bad for a one-season wonder. Congrats on your record, Mo, here’s to many, many more!