Paul Merson has named one Liverpool player who he believes is vastly ‘underrated’ and ‘doesn’t get the credit he deserves’.
The man in question isn’t an unsung hero in the defensive half of the pitch, though, but rather Mo Salah, who recently became only the fifth person to score 200 senior goals for the Reds.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday (16 December, 12:30), the pundit insisted that the 31-year-old is actually somewhat underappreciated by the footballing world at large, considering the ‘mind-boggling’ return he’s posted in his six-and-a-half years at Anfield.
Merson claimed: “Salah, for me, he’s probably the most underrated. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. The numbers he puts up are mind-boggling.”
It seems incredible to think that a player in Salah who’s long since written his name into the Liverpool history books, and whose consistency of goalscoring is almost unrivalled in world football, could still be considered ‘underrated’, but we can see where Merson is coming from.
It’s almost as if we’ve come to expect the Egyptian to be the Reds’ difference maker to such a degree that when he’s kept scoreless, some’ll automatically suggest that he’s had a bad game.
The 31-year-old fully deserves to be hailed in the same breath as Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero et al – players who’ll continue to be recalled as Premier League icons long after their retirement.
To anyone who might take Salah’s brilliance for granted, consider this – his 11-goal tally in the top flight this season is already better than Liverpool’s top scorer in 2014/15 (Steven Gerrard with nine), the same campaign which saw Daniel Sturridge, Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli manage eight between them.
Perhaps Merson is right. Perhaps the Egyptian King is still underappreciated. His goalscoring numbers are truly special, and we’re all dreading the day that LFC will eventually have to replaced him.
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