Mo Salah has been urged by a legend of African football to have a frank discussion with his national team coach.
The Liverpool forward scored one goal and set up another as Egypt laboured to a 2-2 draw against Mozambique in their first group game at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday, with the 31-year-old playing in more of a midfield role than his usual right winger berth.
Speaking to King Fut, Jay-Jay Okocha believes that the Reds’ number 11 would be within his rights to plead with Rui Vitoria to play him in his favoured position, given how often he’s proven himself in the past.
The Nigeria legend said: “Mohamed Salah is a player who must be monitored. Any team facing Egypt must watch him. It is up to the coach to find the best position for him to get the best performance and result.
“Salah is one of the greatest African players, and he should be honest with the manager and tell him which position suits him.”
Although yesterday marked Salah’s third consecutive game for club or country in which he’s both scored and set up a goal, the Liverpool icon was nowhere near his best performance-wise.
BBC Sport reporter Ian Williams noted how the 31-year-old was ‘unable to exert any great influence on proceedings’ against Mozambique, while Egyptian pundit Tarek Shaaban launched a vicious tirade against the Reds’ number 11 on social media.
Whether Vitoria will revert Egypt’s star player to his usual right-winger role against Ghana on Thursday night remains to be seen, but it’ll likely be a decision that the coach makes himself, as we don’t envisage the Anfield forward being arrogant enough to tell his boss what to do.
If anything, Jurgen Klopp might like to see Salah remaining in midfield for his country. If the experiment proves successful, it may give the Liverpool manager food for thought further down the line. If it flounders, the German will know not to replicate that for LFC, and it won’t have come at a cost to his club.
It should be very intriguing to see where the Egyptian skipper lines up for his nation’s next match, and whether he can combine his usual efficiency in front of goal with the world-beating level of performance we know he’s capable of conjuring.