- Mo Salah a key to Liverpool’s tactics because of his speed
- This stretches this pitch and creates more room for the midfielders to drive into
- Klopp thinks Mane & Firmino will start sharing the goalscoring responsibility soon
- SEE MORE: Klopp: The difference between Mourinho’s Salah & My Salah
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has discussed the benefit of Mo Salah tactically, rather than just as a goalscorer.
The Egyptian is making headlines at the moment for his ability to find the back of the net on such regular occasion, almost comical considering he was genuinely criticised for his finishing early on this campaign.
But now the 25-year-old is on 14 goals in 18 appearances, one less than Lionel Messi’s bagged this season!
According to Klopp, Salah works in unison with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane, who are just as responsible for the new signing’s goals.
Interestingly, he also states that Salah’s speed stretches the pitch and pulls the defenders back, which gives the midfielders more room in which to operate.
Klopp told the Telegraph: “If you see Roberto [Firmino] working unbelievably hard, he’s not scoring in the moment. Sadio doesn’t score in the moment. But they work and they will have their moments and then we will talk about them. There’s the guys on the bench who will have their moments. This is the Mo Salah period – no problem with that; well deserved.
“But he’s also very important even when he’s not scoring because he stretches the formation. The speed of the boys means the last line drops – there can be no other reaction. And then we have the space [to play]. The speed players aren’t only for counter-attacking. Sometimes that’s not possible. It’s about stretching formation and creating space for the rest.”
Last term when Mane was out, we had no player capable of running in behind defences, but now we have one on each flank, with the Senegalese fully fit.
This has enabled Coutinho to drop into a deeper, creative position, and we saw the benefit of this against Southampton at the weekend. Salah got two goals, but the Brazilian was exceptional creatively, looking to thread his attackers through on goal rather than shoot from range.