In an exclusive interview ahead of Liverpool vs Manchester United, live on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday, Mohamed Salah opens up on adapting his game and being judged unfairly
Sunday 19 January 2020 12:39, UK
In the reception area of Liverpool's Melwood training ground, you do not have to look far for reminders of the club's recent success.
The European Cup is mounted on one wall. On another, a trophy tally has been updated to reflect the recent Club World Cup win.
It is little wonder that Mohamed Salah is smiling as he strolls between the two. The Egyptian has been instrumental in Liverpool's emergence as European and world champions, scoring 85 goals in 132 games so far, and now he is helping lead the charge towards the prize they covet most.
Of course, nobody around here is taking anything for granted just yet. But Liverpool sit 14 points clear of second-placed Manchester City with a game in hand. Jurgen Klopp's side are setting new standards in their pursuit of a Premier League crown which has been a long time coming.
On Sunday, however, they will face an opponent more motivated than any other to halt their charge. The tables have turned on Manchester United, but Liverpool have only won two of their last 11 meetings. Their old rivals are the only side to have taken points off them this season. They are also one of only two Premier League sides Salah is yet to score against.
It is a record he will be eager to change when he steps out at Anfield.
"You can see from the fans, before and during the game, that they are really excited about playing Manchester United and they really want to win it," Salah tells Sky Sports having taken a seat in the nearby press room.
"There is big competition and, okay, that's important, but as a player you don't have to put more pressure on yourself. In the back of your mind, of course, you know that the fans are pushing you forward to play better and give even more than what you have, but you have to take it as a normal game. You need to get the three points and just carry on.
"I think Manchester United play against me in a different way to some other players. They defend against me in a different way. It's a challenge, but I'm happy about that. As long as the team are winning, I'm always happy."
United, of course, are not the only side to have tried to make life as difficult as possible for Salah since his stunning debut season at Anfield, when he hit 44 goals, including a record-breaking haul of 32 in the Premier League.
The added attention has required some adaptation.
"In the first year when I came here, I was playing more as a winger," says Salah. "Then, in the second year, it was a real challenge to see what I could do when the other teams came to defend against me on the wing, and I knew that there would always be two players waiting for me there.
For every game, I try to study the opponent before we play. I try to find in my head the way I'm going to score against them.
"I had to change my positioning. Now, sometimes I go inside and play more in that part of the pitch, and sometimes I play number nine. It was a challenge, that change, but I think I'm doing well. I finished as top scorer for the team again last season, which is something great.
"For every game, I try to study the opponent before we play. I try to find in my head the way I'm going to score against them. I think it's working well because I have scored many goals for the team. I think there's a lot I am improving and there is a lot of room to improve more."
Another consequence of setting such extraordinarily high standards for himself, however, is that the pressure and expectation on his shoulders has been heightened. Salah is still scoring at a formidable rate, but there have been times in the last 18 months when even short dry spells in front of goal have prompted criticism of his form.
"There is always a lot of pressure when you want to play at the top level, when you want to win trophies and a lot of individual trophies as well," he says. "There is of course a big expectation, but the best way to handle it is just to focus on your work and do it in the right way in each game."
He has certainly succeeded on that front, and while Sadio Mane has taken a bigger share of the scoring burden in the last two seasons, it is often overlooked that Salah brings a lot more to the side than goals.
Since his arrival at Anfield in 2017, he has created more chances and provided more assists than any other Liverpool player in the Premier League. In fact, he ranks top in just about every creative metric.
It has, he says, been an area of focus on the training pitch.
"Sometimes people judge you only on your goals, but honestly, [the creativity] is something the gaffer thinks about and talks to me about a lot. I think my team-mates are happy about it too. As long as I feel like am creating chances and giving assists for them, that's great. Maybe people don't focus much on that, but I like to give assists as well as score.
"In the last game against Tottenham, I gave Bobby [Roberto Firmino] an assist and I was really happy for him to score. Without assists - and I don't just mean my assists - you can't win games.
"Also, I can't focus too much on just scoring or finishing myself, because that means my game won't really change and my opponents will figure out how to defend against me. If sometimes I get the ball and create a chance or give an assist, I can confuse them. It's about being clever."
That cleverness can be seen in how he interchanges positions with Mane and Firmino, and while there was a rare flashpoint earlier in the season when Mane reacted angrily to being substituted during Liverpool's 3-0 win over Burnley - frustrated after Salah had opted to shoot rather than pass to him - there were was never any danger of lingering ill-feeling.
Instead, the pair swiftly put the episode behind them and, together with Firmino, continue to show why they are regarded as one of the most lethal front threes in the game. So far this season, they have fired 38 goals between them in all competitions.
Is there not at least friendly competition about who can score the most?
Salah grins. "Yes, of course: Me," he says, laughing. "No, no, we don't look at it like that. If none of us score and the game finishes zero-zero - which doesn't happen often - we are really angry and we get annoyed by that. But when we're on the pitch and we're winning, it's great."
Mane and Firmino are not the only Liverpool players with whom Salah shares close bonds. Klopp has described him as "sensational" with his team-mates and "very influential" in the dressing room, and Salah sees Liverpool's team spirit as a major factor in their success.
"In my mind, the way I think about it is that everything starts in the dressing room," he says. "The relationships you have with everyone can make a huge difference on the pitch. We all have great relationships and I think that helps us in games and in training. It creates a good mood."
It also helps to have a manager in Klopp who is so attuned to the dynamics of the group and the individual needs of his players. Squad players have been kept on side, ably deputising when required, and senior stars have stepped up whenever Liverpool have needed them most.
It is why Klopp was described as a "father figure" by Mane recently and it is why Salah sees him in much the same way. "He knows how to treat each one of us," he says. "I think he has helped everyone in the team and improved us all as players as well. He has good relationships with us all."
Klopp and his players have already secured their place in the history books. That was assured on that heady night in Madrid last year. But there seems little prospect of them losing focus in pursuit of the next target. Not when their form is so relentless. Not when the standards are so high that Jordan Henderson can be seen mouthing "not good enough" as he leaves the pitch after a 1-0 win away to Jose Mourinho's Spurs.
"Sometimes you have difficult games, like Spurs last weekend, but we managed to win that one because of our experience, and, for myself, as long as we are winning, I'm fine," says Salah. "I want to win the Premier League and I don't mind how we do it in the next 17 games. I just want that trophy, that's the most important thing.
"When I came here, we were not top of the league. We finished fourth in my first year, then we were second last season. But whenever I was asked what I wanted to achieve, it was always the same: I want to win the Premier League. I have always believed we can achieve it and that's what we are trying to do. If we do the hard work, the rest will come."
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