Martin Keown heaped praise on Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah for his display in the 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday.
The BBC pundit highlighted how the Reds winger caused the usually reliable Cherries defender Steve Cook to panic during Saturday’s match and highlighted how easy Salah made it look when grabbing his hat-trick.
Keown then added that Salah was clearly back at the top of his game as his latest performance oozed calmness and confidence.
“It’s a gift for a player of that calibre, he makes it looks so easy Gary (Lineker) in front of goal and he creates panic as well, Cook didn’t have his usual game today for Bournemouth,” said Keown on BBC One’s Match of the Day (Saturday December 8, 22:31).
“He gives the ball away here, Salah is away, running, Cook tries to bring him down and credit to Salah he stays on his feet, Ake (Nathan) should get tighter then he just slots it in.
“He makes it look very easy, I’d like to see Ake get a little bit closer maybe go with his outside foot, his left foot, to get that block in, would have been absolutely critical.
“Great players cause problems, cause panic don’t they? I think Cook causes the problem as Salah is there with all that pace so he panics and then this is sublime.
“Calmness, confidence, he is back at the top of his game.”
OPINION
Salah has come under-fire this season for not looking as in-form as he did in his record-breaking 2017/18 campaign. Yet while the 26-year-old has been questioned this season, at the end of the day after playing 16 games in the Premier League so far he has 10 goals to show for his efforts. That is a tremendous return for a player who supposedly been struggling to submit the displays he is capable of. Salah was particularly impressive against the Cherries on Saturday as aside from scoring a hat-trick, he looked dangerous every time the Reds launched an attack. It’s no surprise that Keown has opted to drool over the player’s ability as a result, as on Saturday Salah silenced any doubters he may have in the best way possible. Given that the Reds have some crucial games coming up in the next week or so, starting with the Champions League clash against Napoli, then if Keown is right about Salah being “back” at his best, then his return to top form has come at the ideal time.
