Jurgen Klopp shocked by what he’s heard about £34m Liverpool player

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Jurgen Klopp says he can’t believe the low amount of free-kicks awarded to Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

According to The Athletic, 55 Premier League players have been fouled more than Salah this season. And in quotes from the same publication, Klopp has suggested that this is a ludicrously small number.

“I know these stats as well and I have to say they are really surprising. He has the ball constantly at his feet. Mo is a dribbler and has scored an insane number of goals over the years and it is like this,” railed the Liverpool boss.

“How Mo deals with these things, I don’t know. It’s absolutely exceptional. For me in that moment (on Sunday), it was not that it was again (a foul) on Mo, it was just so obvious. Like Bernardo Silva’s was a clear foul on Mo. I don’t understand it.”

The officials’ failure to award a free-kick to Salah during Sunday’s game with Tottenham Hotspur ultimately led to Klopp’s meltdown on the touchline. Maybe they’ll start to take notice now.

Salah battles through rough treatment

Anyone who has watched Liverpool with any regularity over recent years will know exactly what Klopp is talking about here. Defenders get away with all sorts when trying to stop Salah.

Indeed, the amount of times the £34m man has been denied nailed-on penalties and free-kicks is obscene. It’s virtually on a weekly basis that he’ll be rugby tackled in the box with nothing doing.

Take the game against Arsenal at the start of April as an example. Salah should arguably have had two penalties awarded late on in the game.

Firstly, Kieran Tierney had the 30-year-old’s arm in a grip as he raced onto a ball towards the back. Despite Tierney clearly holding Salah back and forcing him to lean back and balloon a shot over the bar, nothing was given. Later, in the dying seconds of the game, centre-back Gabriel had two arms around Mo as he tried to clear a corner.

Two arms came around the Reds No.11, before Gabriel tossed him to the floor like a rag doll. Again, nothing given.

Then you’ve got the Bernardo Silva incident which is one of the very worst you’re ever likely to see. As Klopp mentions, Salah deals with this physicality exceptional well. He’s one of the strongest players in the Premier League and can more than hold his own against anyone. But it would be nice if he’d get a little help every now and again.