West Ham United forward Jarrod Bowen has hit out at people suggesting Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has had a poor season.
Salah brought up 30 goals for the season with his winning strike against Brentford on Saturday. But largely owing to Liverpool’s general struggles, there have been claims throughout the campaign that the Egyptian hasn’t been at his best.
Speaking via Football Daily today though, Bowen clearly thinks that’s a load of rubbish. Asked to name the player’s he’s admired this season, the England international was quick to praise Salah, as well as Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka.
“I still think Salah. I’ve seen the other day he’s scored 30 goals and people are saying he’s having a bad season!” Bowen said. “I think for the numbers he’s produced consistently since he’s been in the Premier League he’s still up there.
“I also think Bukayo at Arsenal. I had the honour to play with him at England and saw how good he was, and this season he’s been phenomenal. So, those two are the ones for me, with the numbers they produce and the quality that they play at.”
Saka vs Salah
To be fair, up until not too long ago, Salah had genuinely been having a disappointing season. At least by his own standards. It’s easy to walk that back now, as he’s bagged eight goals in nine games since the March international break.
But before that, there were plenty of suggestions in the media that the 30-year-old was in a steady decline. Watching his performances as Liverpool struggled badly, you couldn’t make all that convincing-a case otherwise.
Since April though, Mo has been back to his old, record-breaking self. Saturday’s winner put him on 19 Premier League goals for the season. That’s a figure he’s now hit in each of his six seasons at Anfield. A further seven assists put Salah on 26 Premier League goal contributions for the 2022/23 campaign. That’s the third most in the league, below only Erling Haaland and Harry Kane.
While Salah’s form has been on the rise, Arsenal’s Saka has hit some choppy waters. Cruising through the season until the last international break, the 21-year-old has scored just once in his seven games since.
Impressively, Saka has still managed to hit double figures for goals and assists this year. So far, he’s the only player to do so. Still, 13 goals and 11 assists puts him behind Salah in accumulative terms.
Considering that Saka has been lauded as having had an amazing season, while Mo has seemingly dropped off, this is really interesting.
It just goes to show the standards our Egyptian King has maintained throughout his time in England. As Bowen suggests, he’s still very much the main man.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
