Jamie Carragher seriously disagrees with what Gary Neville has said about Liverpool’s £34m player

Add as preferred source on Google

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville have disagreed over just how good Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been this season.

Salah has once again been the Reds’ top scorer in 2022/23, hitting 30 goals whilst also providing 15 assists in the process. But speaking on Sky Sports Monday Night Football via Football Daily last night, Neville claimed that this wasn’t enough to see Mo into his Premier League Team of the Season. Carragher duly disagreed.

“Mo Salah for me, I would have him in every season but for me this year I have picked someone else,” said the Manchester United legend.

“In the top five European leagues…” Carragher started to interject.

“Mo Salah’s numbers are fantastic but my point is that when I have watched him play this season I don’t think he’s been anywhere near the level of the player I have picked,” Neville countered.

“Hold on,” said the former Liverpool centre-back, nonplussed. “In the top five European leagues, only Haaland and Mbappe have got more goals than Salah this season. 30 goals, 15 assists, all comps.”

But Neville wasn’t having it.

“I think Saka and Martinelli up until the last few weeks have lit up this league, they have been spectacular, they have been electric, some of the best play that I have seen all season has been from those two with Jesus up-front and Odegaard behind” he hit back.

“I don’t like what I have seen from Arsenal in the last four or five weeks, let’s be clear, and those two have suffered and I always thought that they would suffer from not having the right experienced players around them. But for 30 games they were magical and they were at a different level to Rashford or Salah.”

Salah pays for sluggish start

We can honestly see both points of view here. Based on his form through the first half of the season, no one would have had Salah in their Team’s of the Year. Nobody at all.

The Egyptian took a long while to get going this year, as he battled to shake off the physical and mental weight of 2021/22. As Neville points out, the likes of Saka, Martinelli and even Marcus Rashford were outperforming him.

But since around March time, Mo has been as good as anyone in the Premier League.

It isn’t just his numbers – which are outstanding once again by the way – but it’s the way the £34m man has lifted his game in general. Of course it helps that Liverpool are looking a better side than they were for much of the season, but Salah has been a huge part of that.

Without his goals, assists and all-round threat, there’s no way the Reds would be playing European football next season.

Clearly, they won’t be in the competition players of the quality of Salah should be in. However, it’ll be truly interesting to see how the 30-year-old reacts to being in Europe’s secondary competition. The likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Roberto Lewandowski have had to make do with playing on Thursday night’s in recent seasons. Mo surely won’t see himself as being above it.

In the meantime, we don’t think he’ll be 100 per cent happy as he looks back on his own performances this season. But over recent months, Salah has started to put that right. He’ll be back to claim his rightful place next year, you can bet on that.