Jose Enrique was of the mind to agree with Chris Sutton’s recent criticism of Liverpool star Mo Salah on Twitter.
The BBC pundit had compared Bukayo Saka’s season to the Egyptian’s on the right flank, suggesting that the latter’s powers have waned significantly this term.
Chris Sutton on Saka and Salah:
🗣️"Saka is winning the battle on the right. Salah has not been the same footballing force for Liverpool this season."
Saka – 13 goals, 10 assists
Salah- 22 goals, 10 assistsI agree that salah definitely hasn't been at his best and Saka has… pic.twitter.com/SR1KChheGd
— José enrique (@Jesanchez3) March 27, 2023
Even with the England international in the form of his career, however, it’s interesting to note that the No.11’s numbers have been far from horrific (superior, even) even if his standards have taken a dip this term.
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Whilst we can acknowledge that the former Roma frontman hasn’t enjoyed the best individual season, it’s worth pointing out that, much in a similar vein to the quality of performances we’ve seen from stalwarts like Virgil van Dijk, the Egyptian King has suffered massively as a side effect of the team’s struggles.
The midfield has certainly played a major part, failing to furnish the backline with the protection it has come to enjoy for much of Jurgen Klopp’s reign and, as a result, hampering a major source of creativity in our ranging fullbacks.
Whether such a concern proves fatal for our top four hopes remains to be seen, though there’s no question that we could do with the financial benefits of Champions League football ahead of a summer in which our recruitment team must be actively involved in.
In the meantime, we’d have to agree with Enrique that it says a great deal about Mo Salah’s brilliance that his reasonable numbers can be looked at through such a bleak prism.