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- [00:00]
Sponsor Voice
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- [01:39]
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- [02:35]
Ayo Akin Mullere
The Athletic FC Podcast Network welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me Ayo Akin Mullere. I'm probably more out than in. Mo Salah said on his future. After another match winning performance, Salah tags.
- [02:53]
James Pearce
And Salah scores and Liverpool leads is Mo Salah fires the bow.
- [02:58]
Si Hughes
Now give him his dough.
- [02:59]
Ayo Akin Mullere
His goal means Liverpool are now eight points clear at the top of the Premier League. So will Salah be offered a contract that will keep him at Anfield? Joining us today we have the Athletics Liverpool writers James Pearce and also Si Hughes as well. And our data analyst Mark Carey will be dropping in to crunch the numbers on Salah's evolution. But James, let's start with you on this one. You spoke to Salah in the mix zone following Liverpool's 32 win at Southampton on Sunday and the headline is that look.
- [03:31]
Mark Carey
Salah said, well we almost in December I haven't received any offer to stay yet in the club so probably I'm more out than in.
- [03:40]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Tell us what you made of his comments but also what more was said.
- [03:44]
James Pearce
Yeah, it was, it was a remarkable few minutes really because I think as everyone will know Mo Salah very rarely speaks to the English written media. He's played 367 games for Liverpool. I've been at the vast majority of them. I've asked him probably a few hundred times at least to stop and probably had a few hundred polite no's. He'd only stopped twice previously. Yet when I asked him on Sunday he came straight over and it became abundantly clear that Mo Salo had something he wanted to get off his chest. How do you feel about the fact there hasn't been an offer then?
- [04:20]
Si Hughes
Does that disappoint you?
- [04:21]
Mark Carey
Of course, yeah.
- [04:23]
James Pearce
And so what have you spoken to the club about why there hasn't been an offer?
- [04:27]
Mark Carey
Well, I'm not gonna go and I'm not going to retire soon. So I'm just playing the, I'm focusing the season and yeah, let's, I'm trying to win the Premier League. Hopefully the Champions League has won but yeah, it's a disappointment.
- [04:39]
James Pearce
But talked about his love for the club and his love for the fans but he said, you know, it's, it's not in my hands. Let's just wait and see.
- [04:48]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah Si, you know it's very rare that Salah does speak to journalists as James has alluded to. You know, I think third time in seven and a half years. Does that suggest that he's personally putting public pressure on Liverpool from where you're sitting?
- [05:03]
Si Hughes
Absolutely, yeah, 100%. He only ever speaks when there's a reason to speak. I remember the first time when he did he did speak to the media in the mix own I'm sure James was there on that occasion and that was after I think after he'd broken the 40 goal barrier in his first season and he needs some persuading to, to do that conversation I think it lasted for about three minutes and then he was off really didn't want to talk but was sort of corralled into doing so and then as James mentioned I think that the second time was after they won the Champions league in, in 2019 when if you're not going to speak them you know you're never going to speak so obviously over the last couple of months he's he. He has been open on occasion after the Manchester United game hey ho when he's had a good performance and people suddenly starting talking about his worth to and then obviously yesterday he, he played a defining role in Liverpool's victory so I can understand why perfectly entitled to, to to play it the way he does and he often communicates sort of in the cryptic and keeps people guessing with some of the things that he says but it's very very clear that he he to me anyway that he's he's interested in staying at Liverpool once an offer on the table so he can consider it as he openly admitted to James disappointed that that offer hasn't come yet now keen to stress that that doesn't mean that the conversations haven't been happening between him and his, his representative Ramy Abbas but it's December and Liverpool still haven't, still haven't got an offer in front of the table on the table for him now all I would say is is one thing that I've learned with Salah certainly with the last contract negotiation I know we're two years along the line it's slightly more complex maybe the, the sort of the thinking behind people's motivations about why they might stay and why they might why they might want to make an offer But I know in 2022 when he signs start of June Muhammad Salah and Rami Abbas were talking privately about leaving the club and what his options were three weeks later, four weeks later they'd signed the new contract so things can change very quickly but of course the different people behind the scenes leading these negotiations potentially Liverpool we're not quite sure who who has the sign off but certainly Richard Hughes wasn't in position in 2022 so a lot of focus on him I think because to find out that he hasn't had an offer is. I've got to say I was quite surprised. Really.
- [07:30]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah. Yeah. I think what's interesting for me is I'm also fascinated from the fan's perspective, James. You know, there's that banner that's going around. He fires a bow now give Mo his doe. What is the feeling from the fans in that respect? It sounds like fans are all onside. I mean he's their top goalscorer, he's in great shape. The stats are really, really good. You know him speaking publicly, do we get a sense of what, what the fans want?
- [07:56]
James Pearce
Yeah, yeah. I think certainly every fan I speak to is absolutely desperate for Liverpool to resolve this. And you know, the idea of Mohamed Salah playing for anyone else next season is incredibly unpalatable because his contribution this season has been nothing short of remarkable because you go back to the back end of last season and he had a really difficult time of it. Having, you know, got injured at afcon, struggled to get his rhythm back. He was in and out of the team actually at the back end of the season there was the well publicized spot with Jurgen Klopp on the touchline at West Ham. Yet from the get go on the slot, he's looked absolutely rejuvenated. And 12 goals, 10 assists in 18 appearances in all competitions this season, a goal involvement every 65 minutes, which is by far and away his best in a season during his Liverpool career. Even in 2017, 18 when of course he broke all kinds of records when he scored 44 goals in all competitions, I think it was a goal involvement every 71 minutes. So that, that's the level he's performing at and I think that's, that's clearly why he's decided the time was right to crank up the pressure. And I think a lot of fans will understand why he's done that. As Simon said, I think it's important in terms of. I think a lot of people will see, you know, the headline of him saying he hasn't had an offer and think, well, what on earth are Liverpool playing at now? Of course it's unthinkable that in the dialogue that's been going back and forth between Richard Hughes and Ramy Abbas, it's unthinkable. There haven't been verbal conversations about expectations on both sides now. You know, it's, it's the nuances of it, I guess, isn't it? In terms of Salah saying he hasn't had a formal offer in terms of one that's on the table. Liverpool haven't confirmed or denied that's the case of course the last thing they want is to turn this into something confrontational or adversarial when especially at a time when things are so positive on the pitch but yeah Liverpool fans they'd be absolutely devastated if this is the end in terms of his final season of his career because you know he's still Liverpool's most potent attacking weapon. Yes he might be 33 next June but you only have to look at that that torso when he whipped his shirt off after scoring the winning goal at St. Mary's he's an absolute machine.
- [10:15]
Ayo Akin Mullere
I'm glad you said it because I was going to say he looks in great shape man he looks insane.
- [10:20]
James Pearce
Reminds me of myself in many ways.
- [10:23]
Ayo Akin Mullere
What you're saying size reminds you of yourself as well.
- [10:25]
Si Hughes
Yeah it definitely reminds me of James I can confirm that he's got a body like Ned Fl commanders don't be deceived by the. The video here. Well yeah the mere active and whipping his shirt off I mean I know he has done this before I don't know there's always. I'm always thinking there's a reason why he does this and it's you know it's reminding people I think this is what the big decision Liverpool have to make really the Is he a special case? Is he different to other 32, 33 year olds? The evidence currently is yes. I mean we could go through all the games in the last month that he's actually had a big impact on Liverpool have played well under slots but they haven't been outstanding have they in in most of the games they played well in phases of the game but in a lot of these games Salah's role in the outcome has been defining and he's continuing to do it. It's a very hard argument to say there's going to be a major drop off with this player I think because. Because of the way he's. He sort of redesigned his game over a long period of time always finds a way to have an impact. I, I agree with James I think it would be, it would be sad to, to see him go. I just think you take Salah back to the very beginning I think his mere presence in the in the Liverpool team gave a lot of people around the club this belief in the impossible because of the sheer scale of the goals that he scored in his first season. Okay he hasn't hit those numbers again since but he's been remarkably consistent over such a long period of time. Now some of the Conversation will still date back to last season, the hamstring injury. I, I, I, I felt a bit sorry for him towards the end of last season because he was coming into a team that was expected to be going for the title. At just the time there were three or four other players trying to get up to, to speed with with what was going on around them and he wasn't the only one. He didn't perform to the levels that he's capable of but he's come back and he looks sharper than ever and he's having an impact. And it's going to be a really hard argument for Liverpool to convince people that they're making the right decision. Now I mentioned this to James before but I think it's a point that's worth making as well. From Salah's perspective he could go to another club potentially and might not perform anywhere near as well as he does for Liverpool and that would, that would maybe in FSG or in Liverpool or Richard Hughes or whoever's really responsible for this decision be the evidence that they need say look we made the right decision. But I just think Muhammad Salah clearly feels a sense of place at Liverpool in terms of he's got, he's got a belief in himself, a confidence. He takes a confidence for playing for this team and I don't think that can be over overestimated really. I think he knows that as well. I think he does know that and that's one of the reasons why he wants to stay. So it just shoots everybody as far as I'm concerned to try and find a solution to this because why would you give up on. I think the other thing that Liverpool have to consider is if he goes he will need replacing. There's not somebody in that area, the pitch I think that's ready to take on that mantle. You can't replace Muhammad Salah with a young player because he's got so much experience. So Liverpool are gonna have to spend a lot of money I would imagine in the transfer market to recreate Muhammad Salah or use a couple of players to recreate it. A couple of players means more money so they're gonna have to pay one way or the other. And there's no one really around. Well there isn't anyone around in Europe who's delivered Salah's numbers. 20 goals minimum a season, seven seasons on the run. That's going to be, he's going to be higher than that come the end of the season. So yeah I think there's got to be A Liverpool from this position I think have got to show a willingness to, to try and make it happen.
- [13:54]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah. I want to dig into the numbers a little later on gents, but very quickly Simon. It's interesting. I've always been fascinated by Mo Salah the man, you know, we talk about him rarely giving interviews in general but I've always been interested by what motivates him as, as a human being. You know, huge Egyptian star, global star, some might even say. And I know you've, you've written his biography which is out right now actually called Chase and Salah. You know, you wanted to work out basically what makes him tick and I'm sure so many people are interested in that. What lies behind that cool demeanor? What did you learn?
- [14:30]
Si Hughes
I think what is most relevant to this moment, you know, what's actually going to happen from here is obviously his relationships. He's got. I was really interested to find out about his relationships within the club but also outside the club and that the person in life that he is closest to is Ramia Abbas who's his representative Now I think there's a perception, you know about Rami Abbas as being this like really hard negotiator, which I think he is but him and Salah see each other as a business, you know I am absolutely. I'd be very surprised. I don't know this for certain but I would be very surprised if Mohamed Saleh decided to speak to James yesterday and it was a spontaneous decision. I think they will have spoken about the strategy of who we speak to, why we speak to them and when, when this information comes out. I'd be amazed if that conversation hasn't happened and they worked together very closely. Like Salah and Abbas are as close as family really. Now that's a relationship that's worked for both of them. Now I think that the. There's a perception that certainly the last round of negotiations when he signs his last contract that it was Muhammad Salah and Rami Abbasid set their stall out and it was up to Liverpool to meet those expectations. Very clear to me in my, you know, investigations that there was a big, there's a willingness to compromise. You know, right throughout that process there was a feeling, well certainly at the end from the Salicides when, when they actually got the contract in front of them there was even a feeling that again it was a feeling rather than being definitive but a feeling of deliverable. Really want us to sign this, do they? They were actually feeling. They actually hope that we might not sign this because it's such a big commitment. So that's. Liverpool had to move some distance as well. You know that they, they, they're just as tough as Salah and, and Abbas is in this negotiation. That being said, I think the evidence is again, I'm repeating myself but the, that things moved very quickly when they realized that they had to. I'm hopeful that in, you know, that this, I think the comments from, from Salah should be a trigger point really for Liverpool certainly ownership level to start talking about what can we do because you don't want it to become a distraction going into a really important part of the season, which it could do because it's going to dominate the conversations. But as an individual, as somebody who's like sort of. He sees himself very much as an individual and he's not afraid to, to ride up against, you know, the big institutions that, that he's working for and with, you know, you look at his relationship with the Egyptian FA over a long period of time, he sees himself very much as an individual. Now that might be unappealing to a lot of people. You know, people like to see, see footballers who like to sort of work hard with, with, with, with the teammates, which Salah is one of those. But he is ferociously independent, is able to speak his own mind and often when he does it leads to quite a reaction. You know, you only need to look at his, his interactions with the Egyptian FA over a long period of time. He's provoked him at certain points of opportunity and often, often won those little battles. So it's going to be really interesting to see how Liverpool react to this because he's not afraid of the politics despite a perception that sometimes he is because he doesn't actually say that much on the record. But when he does, it's often very pointed and often for a good reason. And quite often it's led to the reaction that he's, he's wanted from the outside.
- [18:05]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Looking at Salah, you see, I mean I didn't expect the conversation to go that way. We talked about his body and how great he looks. But also you get a sense of a sheer determination here to constantly be good. You know, you get a sense that he in his heart sees himself as an Anfield legend. Do you know what I mean? Like, do you get, did you get that sense from him in terms of how he wants to be as a footballer and how great he wants to be?
- [18:28]
Si Hughes
Okay, well, there's a couple of things here. So Salah over the last four seasons at Liverpool has been really Frustrated by the lack of success, you know, in terms of the amount of trophies that they've won since they won the Premier League. You know, the first four years, the first three years there was a build up where they won everything there was to win. They've sort of missed out. They got close enough, missed out then actually falling out the Champions League. And I remember that when they, they didn't qualify for the Champions League, Salah went on to social media. Only player to do so. This is not good enough. He's not doing that just to appeal to the crowd. It's because he thinks this is not, this is not where I want to be and certainly not where I want Liverpool to be. So he is desperate to win. I think that mentality, it goes back a long way. I mean there are various points that you can, you can, you can look at. But I do think, you know, as a young person making that journey that he used to make from Niagrig into Cairo every day alone by himself, you know, you can only sort of imagine what that must do to a person's mentality. You know, he's sacrificing well a lot of home life. He's putting himself in isolation to go and achieve things all the way through his career. He's learns from the setbacks that he's received or experienced. So Chelsea, he was at Chelsea looking around the dressing room, why am I not playing? He's wearing this big baggy Chelsea shirt. He's looking at Eden Hazard, who's ahead of him, much sturdier, not a massive gym goer but bigger. Salah's like, how do I get to that point? You know, how do I. So I've got to hit the gym harder, I've got to work harder and become bigger and more physical and that's exactly what he's done. So, you know, somebody put it to me, he's more of a Djokovic than a Federer, you know, in terms of the way his mentality is. It's like I've got to be a machine basically. And he is, I know, I can understand the concern. Does this machine break down? That'll be what Liverpool are thinking. How long does this run on for? But his commitment to himself and those around him I think is unusual in, in football now. I think he, he's obsessed, absolutely obsessed by maintaining his own levels to the point of it being, is it his entire life really. So his commitment to himself indicates to me that he, unless it's bad luck or he gets a really bad injury, I Can't see a massive drop off in him yet. I, I just can't because of the way he's redefined himself. He joined Liverpool as one player, as a very, very fast player who nobody could deal with. Even when he leaves, he will leave as another player, you know, a totally different player who uses a space well, uses his body well, outwits people, is finishing is the one thing that probably, maybe hasn't improved, is probably is finished. You know, he missed a couple of chances yesterday that you'd expect him to score, but nevertheless he still puts himself in a position to, to score more goals. He could have had a hat trick yesterday, ends up with two. So yeah, I mean, I think he's a special character. Not many people from sort of footballers from Egypt have that mentality that he has and he's difficult, he's difficult to keep down, put it that way. And I think that's what a lot of Liverpool fans can relate to in some ways. You know, he's the sort of person who won't take no for an answer. You know, it struck me as quite a Liverpool thing to do yesterday. Certainly local people were like, you know, why should they keep quiet? I want to find out what's going on almost. You know, I don't think Liverpool fans are like saying, oh, this should be kept in house, you know, certainly as a reporter, I'm very pleased that James did his job and got closer to the truth.
- [21:52]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah, yeah, James, he's not slowing down anytime soon. But you know, in terms of his sheer determination to be the best, what have you noticed from your times with Salah?
- [22:01]
James Pearce
Yeah, yeah, just. I think just that fire inside him, just fiercely ambitious and yeah, just is a winner, isn't he? And I think, I think that the biggest thing I took away from the conversation with him on the south coast on Sunday evening was he is desperate to stay at Liverpool. He doesn't want to go anywhere else. This wasn't someone kicking up a fuss or, you know, agitating in any way. It's like, it's actually the, the absolute opposite. He, he is like, you know, I want to stay, I want to be part of this new era. He said, you know, everything has, has worked so well with the new manager. I believe we can compete and potentially win the Premier League and the Champions League this season. I thought it was really telling actually. I asked him about the ongoing interest from Saudi Arabian because we know that Liverpool rejected that big money offer back in the summer of 23 and he quickly shut it down. And as soon as I'd asked him it, he said, I don't want to speak about that. I'm focused on this team. And then he was a lot more open when I asked him about the prospect of emulating, you know, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by, you know, going on and achieving and breaking records at the top level into his mid-30s and beyond. And I thought that was telling in itself. You know, he isn't ready to take a step back. He sees himself keeping on doing this for years and years to come. And, you know, and it's down to Liverpool to ensure that happens in a red shirt and not for someone else. Because, yeah, this, this was very much Salah making a kind of a calculated assessment that the time was right to speak publicly because he's desperately trying to get the deal that he thinks recognizes his enduring status in the world game.
- [23:53]
Podcast Host
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with I.O. accamolere. This episode of the Totally Football show is brought to you by Shopify. When we're kids, we dream of being anything. A footballer, an astronaut and international man. A mystery. But as we get older, reality kicks in and dreams change. And we focus on how to take our skills and ideas and turn them into something tangible, like owning your own business. And for that, you'll need a website, a payment system, a logo, and a way to advertise to new customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that's where Shopify comes in. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. When it comes to websites, Shopify's got beautiful ready to go templates to match your brand style. And you can amplify that brand with Shopify's easy to run email and social media campaigns. Shopify's AI tools are created for commerce and can help you with tasks like generating discount codes, writing product descriptions and enhancing product images. And whenever you get stuck, Shopify's award winning 24. 7 customer support. Support is always there. So turn those dreams into sales and get the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today@shopify.com totally. That's shopify.com totally all in lowercase one last time. Shopify.com totally.
- [25:21]
Sponsor Voice
This podcast is brought to you by Aura. Imagine waking up to find your bank account drained, bills for loans you never took out, a warrant for your arrest. All because someone stole your identity. Hackers aren't waiting. Why are you? That's why we're thrilled to partner with Aura. Your personal data is a goldmine for hackers and Aura helps lock it down. Aura monitors the dark web, blocks data brokers from selling your information. Includes a VPN for private browsing and a password manager to secure your accounts before criminals break in. For a limited time, Aura is offering our listeners a 14 day free trial plus a dark web scan to check if your personal information has been leaked. All for free@aura.com safety that's aura.com safety to sign up and start protecting yourself and your loved ones. That's a u r a.com safety. Terms apply. Check the site for details.
- [26:19]
Ayo Akin Mullere
All right, time to bring in our senior data analyst Mark Carey for some insight into Salah's evolution at Liverpool. Mark many expected Salah to slow down at 32, but if anything, we've spoken about the physique, we've spoken about his stats a little bit. He's only getting better, isn't he?
- [26:37]
Sponsor Voice
Yeah.
- [26:37]
Mark Carey
I was disappointed not to join. More of the physique chat. I could have done with weighing in on that. And that's not even to mention his new hairline as well. He looks younger than ever as well when you track it back to some of the seasons gone by. But we know that he's an output monster. He has been since, since he arrived at Liverpool. So I think that's always been the case. I think that the thing that, I mean, so I mentioned it as well that he didn't even play that well at the weekend. He doesn't necessarily need to play well in his over performance to go and get a goal or even a hat trick at times. So I think that's always been the case for Salah. So everything that he's doing this season is not hugely a surprise given the context of everything the guys have covered and that we've seen of him in a Liverpool shirt. But of course my job is to look at the numbers and looking at it in terms of domestic competition only. Across Europe he's got 1.3 goals or assists. We'll call that goal involvement. And that's currently the fourth best across Europe's top five leagues among players with 900 minutes or more. And that's behind Robert Lewandowski, Omar Mahmouche and Trak Frankfurt who's having a fantastic season also in Egypt International and Harry Kane. But other than maybe Mamouche, you'd argue that Salah is probably the most balanced of those four in terms of the rate of goals and assists and his creative output, which has been widely spoken about, is super impressive this season. And a lot of the conversation's been about Ballon d'ors in recent weeks and how he wasn't close to that in the conversation when really maybe should have been. Granted, he didn't have a ridiculously good season for his own standards last year, but the rate that he's at at the moment, and granted it is still early on the season. You know I always have to have my caveats and every time I come onto this podcast, but that is still ahead of Bukayo, Saka, Lamina, mal and Vinicius Jr. When looking at this rate of goals and assists. So it's hugely impressive. Yes, it's still early on, but he's to the guy's point. He's performing incredibly well and that rate of 1.3 goals or assists per 90 minutes is currently on par with his first season at Liverpool. But as I say, it's now more balanced towards equally from a goal scoring and a creative perspective. So of course if you could manage that across the, the whole season, then it would be an incredible rate. No matter how old he is. That'll be incredible for, for any player. And again, I guess the guys have already covered it, but in terms of just how robust he is physically, I've got the, the numbers of just the, the share of minutes that he's played from the potential that are available across domestic seasons at least. And last season it was he played 74 of the available minutes that Liverpool had in the Premier League and that was come to be his, his Liverpool career. And you can include the fact that he was at the African cup of nations and yes, he had some, some hamstring injuries as well. But you know, there's, there's multiple factors within that. Other than that season, he hasn't fallen below 80% in terms of his available minutes. So you think about trying to, to project. I know that James has mentioned this in one of his pieces that you look at providing a contract for a player because of what you project they're going to do in the future, not necessarily what they've done in the past, but you can still look at trends as to what the player is likely to do and even make sure that they're on the pitch. Now this is a player who is available nearly always and the, the old cliche of the best ability is availability. That's definitely the case for Salah and will probably continue to be the case.
- [29:55]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah, Si. Something really interesting I was looking at because Michael Cox did a piece on Salah and you know, what he's gained and what he's lost and he's not dribbling as much as he used to. But honestly, like assisting and scoring is insane. This season alone, I think he's assisted 10 across all competitions. And his creativity, I think personally it's kind of underrated, isn't it?
- [30:19]
Si Hughes
Well, I think, you know, certainly in the early years of Salah, he was, he was judged on his goal scoring and maybe sometimes described as a slightly selfish player. Maybe there was some truth in that. You know, I think some of his. One thing I did learn, you know, like writing the book, there was some of his teammates sort of felt that about him. But I think this is where his is intelligence comes in that every smart footballer realizes if I'm going to stay relevant, I have to be useful in some way, you know, so just being judged on your goals might not be enough. And I would argue his understanding of the role, you know, a left footed player off the right, knowing which positions to pick up so he can get involved in those moments, whether it's a pass or a shot, he just does it every single game really. He might not be having an outstanding standing game, but he'll still by and large find a way to impact the game. He's just a very clever footballer. Now for me, I mean, we've seen this season some of his passion at certain moments. I think back to the Manchester United game at Old Trafford. You know, it was almost Messi esque. You know, if, if Lionel Messi had been threatened through some of those passes, we, we'd just be like pairing with agreements really. So I mean, I don't want to overplay like how, how, how good a player he is, but he is a very, very intelligent footballer who's worked at his game relentlessly and seems to me just to have a lot more to give.
- [31:51]
Mark Carey
I mean, yeah, I agree with Si in terms of the, the overall role that Cellah has and it being so key in his importance to the dynamic of the whole team. And it works both ways that the team bring out the best in him and he brings out the best in the team. And it's something we did an episode on fairly recently for the Athletic Tactics podcast as well. And in terms of his creativity when you were. Is that, I'm pretty sure in saying this that he has 75 assists in the Premier League, which again, in the modern era, I feel like, you know, you have the, the greats and they're sort of solidified in their stature. But you look at those 75 assists, that's just five shy of David Beckham, who, yeah, we associate as one of the best providers in the Premier League era and someone who took a lot of corners and a lot of free kicks. You know, set pieces were key to his creativity and Salah doesn't necessarily do that. So I think that's super interesting from the get go. But again, of course, looking at his underlying numbers, I really like to do that. And his expected assists as well, which looks at the quality of the shot that is assisted. Now essentially he was averaging 0.42 expected assists per 90 last season. This is where I think his creativity has improved a lot starting last season, more so than necessarily this season or people started to notice more. So that rate of expected assist is basically saying that he was creating chances worthy of an assist once every two and a half games. Should we say now in the seasons before that it was averaging about once every four games, so it's nearly doubled. In terms of just how creative he has been with those actions, I think that there's tactical reasons to why that was. I think that the likes of Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane had long gone from the club and he had to start to take on more of a responsibility from a creative threat from wide rather than it necessarily being Roberto Firmino dropping in and pulling the strings a little bit. And obviously a lot of the creative threat coming from the fullbacks. He's basically crafted and regenerated into a player who is even more of a dual threat from a from a goal scoring and an assist standpoint.
- [33:50]
Ayo Akin Mullere
I mean, it's going to be a tough, tough ask for Liverpool to see what they do next for this contract. Anyway, Mark, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate you joining us.
- [33:58]
Mark Carey
Cheers guys.
- [34:09]
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- [35:06]
Podcast Host
This is the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akamolera.
- [35:13]
Ayo Akin Mullere
We've made a compelling case really in many respects for Salah being a game changer for Liverpool. What he offers the team and you know, even on a slot. What did he say after the Southampton game? You know we always know we can trust him if things are difficult for us. I mean we talk about, about whether he stays on or not. I mean who on earth can offer this team and get him out of trouble when they're not playing so well?
- [35:36]
James Pearce
Yeah, I think you'd be trying to replace the irreplaceable. I think you only have to look at the summer just gone when you know Liverpool brought in Federico Chiesa at the back end of the window because it was like, you know, we need, we need a backup in that area. We need someone to maybe help ease the burden at times. Yet you know, Chiesa hasn't been fit, played like 75 minutes of football so far this season. You know Harvey Elliott can play out out there, he has done previously. But again you're talking about, you're talking about one of the greatest players in world football and it's, and, and as Mark talked about then, it's not just that quality, it's that, it's that durability as well. The fact he is so often out there and so often delivering in big moments. That's the thing you look at even the current run he's on scored in five successes Premier League matches but he's not, he doesn't provide, you know, the icing on the cake in three or four nil wins. He, he is the go to man when, when Liverpool really need them. You think the late equalizer down at Arsenal. You've got the winner against Brighton, the killer second goal against Villa, you know, on Sunday, 21 down with 25 minutes to go on a dreadful afternoon at St. Mary's you think you know Liverpool's rivals are licking their lips. Is this the moment where when things start to unravel for Slot's team who, who comes up and delivers, it's Mo Salah. So I understand all the arguments about, you know, you can't reward him for what he's done. You've got to almost have a crystal ball and you're trying to work out what will he still be doing when he's 35 or 36 but I just don't see him. I just don't see that changing at the minute because you know you can only judge someone on what we're seeing and what you know, the body of work they've got. And you think? I just think you know yes it's a massive investment and at some point Liverpool are going to have to replace Mo Salah. We know that but I don't think that should be for at least two, another two seasons after this one because you know what 400 grand a week. I think it's about 20 million pound a year. What's that? 40 million in wages for an extra two years is you know if you were to try and spend that on replacing him, you aren't getting much for 40 million and you're certainly not getting yourself another Mo Salah.
- [37:51]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Yeah, for sure. I guess before we wrap this up Si I just want to just talk about the season so far because it really has been an amazing start for Arnold Slot firstly but also for Liverpool in general. You know 10 wins in 12 Premier League games this season. Already eight points ahead of Manchester City. But let's start looking ahead. Let's start looking at some really interesting fixtures coming up right now. Real Madrid at Anfield for the Champions League and then and huge league games. Manchester City at home, Newcastle away. Then a big Merseyside derby. I mean this is gonna be a massive, massive test. But I guess also we've sort of been saying this so far Liverpool are gonna get tested and they seem to get it over the line.
- [38:30]
Si Hughes
Yeah, well I don't sense any feeling of trepidation you know around the city or speaking to other fans. Everybody's just really excited for this challenge based on the fact that Mohamed Salah keeps scoring goals against in moments where, where Liverpool need him. So I mean I think the City game of, of the three games is the biggest of those games really because if Liverpool win that game, you know the, the gap between Liverpool City be 11 points and I was looking earlier this morning the season when Liverpool won the league in, in 20, 20, 1920 Liverpool went I think eight points above City by beating them in early November. I can't remember the exact correlation between the number of games that they played but psychologically going into into December potentially 11 points above man City. It's, that is a, that is a big thing for Liverpool if they were to win and at this moment in time you would have to say that Liverpool are the favorites to win that game. You know based on their form Based on the fact that Liverpool's performances against City at home at Anfield have been good over a long period of time, even, even under Pep Guardiola. So that, that is the biggest game of the three really. Obviously Liverpool have built. Built up quite a. A decent position in the Champions League where the Real Madrid game, it's a big game, a game that they want to win. A game that I think are giving them a lot of confidence if they win potentially later on in the competition. When you're expecting Real Madrid to really come into their own, it will be very useful for Liverpool to win that game because the record against Real Madrid's over a long period of time hasn't been good. Obviously they've edged them out in, in a couple of finals as well. So it is a big game. But City for me is that is the big one. And if Liverpool beat City, you're obviously then going into the Mercedes derby full of confidence against an Everton team that just can't score goals at the moment. So yeah, I mean I think Liverpool have been excellent this season. I must say that. I think that Arnold Slot doing as well as he has done, you know, that the play him with a lot more restraints at certain times but backing themselves to get back into games because they've got that experience in certain areas of the pitch. I do think that the, the transition between Klopp and Slot has almost masked over some of these problems. I mean, let's face it, if Slot wasn't doing quite as well and the three players who are out of contract and still out of contract were in this position, I think that Liverpool the atmosphere would not be good at this moment in time, it's fair to say, but they are where they are. He's done fantastically to deliver the results that he has delivered. And I just think bit by bit, game by game, you know, people are growing in confidence in Schloss. The Southampton game game was always a game that I thought Liverpool might slip open because it's after the international break. But I think the really impressive thing about slots was the way he used Alexis Mallister and Lewis Diaz bringing them both off the bench having a really big impact on the outcome of the game. They both really were on it when they came on having obviously been traveling some distances. And I think that decision earlier on in the season cost Liverpool against Nottingham Forest. And he seems to have learned with the difficult, difficult moments. So, so yeah, it's, it's as you said. I mean they've had, we've said a few times well, we're going to see the real Liverpool soon. I mean I think we, we've already seen the real Liverpool of them. Being honest. It's just whether they can really put the, the foot on the throat of man City, you know, and, and take advantage of their, their poor form.
- [41:54]
Ayo Akin Mullere
Get over these two weeks, James, surely even you have to start thinking Liverpool are title contenders. Come on, man.
- [42:01]
James Pearce
Yeah, I'll give you that now. Yeah, yeah, definitely in the.
- [42:07]
Ayo Akin Mullere
That's all I'm getting from you. All right, let's leave it there, Jets. James, side, thanks for your time and also Mark as well earlier. We'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for listening.
- [42:17]
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- [42:25]
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- [42:37]
James Pearce
Waiting.
- [42:38]
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