OPINION
Ian Holloway was overly harsh with his verdict on Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian’s performance in the Community Shield against Manchester City on Sunday.
The former QPR manager labelled Salah greedy due to the number of shots he took, which can be argued, but then sassily remarked that the game was about the team, not him.
This sort of implied that Salah was not just greedy but that he was putting himself in front of the team, which seems an overly harsh way to critique the attacker’s performance.
“He was a little bit greedy don’t you think?,” said Holloway on talkSPORT (6:08am, Monday, August 5th).
“I thought he should have slipped one or two, but also it’s not about you, it’s about the team.”
Salah had 10 of the 17 shots the Reds had overall against Man City, as per the BBC, and at times he should have done better with his efforts.
Yet it’s worth noting that the 27-year-old went close several times due him striving to help his team win rather than going for personal glory, and he was unlucky on some occasions as one of his shots even rattled the bar.
Salah wouldn’t rest on his laurels and his constant runs at the Man City defence what were helped the Reds get back into the game after going behind, and it’s easy to argue he was a bright spark.
While Holloway is critical of Salah, the 27-year-old’s never-say-die attitude and his willingness to keep firing shots at goal works out for him normally in the end.
For example, the Reds attacker scored 22 goals in 38 league appearances to end up as the joint winner of the Premier League’s Golden Boot and it’s no coincidence that had more shots, he had 137 attempts, than any other player in the division. (Source: Premier League)
So you feel that Holloway was a bit out-of-line with his verdict on Salah, although you can see where he is coming from, as after a lively performance the Eqyptian attacker deserves praise if anything.
