Daniel Gabbidon blasted Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah for his poor link-up play after the 2-1 victory over Leicester City on Saturday.
The BBC pundit claimed that the Reds winger’s link-up play was so poor that he effectively causes his teammates to defend 10% more as he doesn’t complete enough of his side’s attacks.
Gabbidon suggested he thought Salah didn’t retain possession well and even went on to imply the Egyptian was one of the reasons why Liverpool “don’t do” clean sheets anymore.
At times Salah’s link play is really poor. He causes the game to get stretched by turning over the ball too often. The team then have to defend 10% more than they should because he doesn’t complete enough of their attacks. #LFC don’t do clean sheets anymore. ?
— Daniel Gabbidon (@Gabbidon35) October 5, 2019
“At times Salah’s link play is really poor. He causes the game to get stretched by turning over the ball too often. The team then have to defend 10% more than they should because he doesn’t complete enough of their attacks,” wrote Gabbidon on his verified Twitter account.
“#LFC doesn’t do clean sheets anymore.”
OPINION
To criticise a player is one thing, but to suggest they’re so poor that they add to the workload of their teammates is harsh. However, while the pundit hasn’t really held back with his criticism and could have worded it better, it’s actually easy to see why he has an issue with Salah’s recent performances. For example, the 27-year-old was dispossessed twice during Saturday’s clash with Leicester and made three poor touches that ended up seeing possession change hands, so it’s clear Salah can be frustratingly careless when the ball is at his feet (Source: WhoScored). This obviously led to his teammates being called into action to stop Salah losing the ball leading to a goal for Leicester City on this occasion. Yet when you consider Sadio Mane gave the ball away five times against the Foxes due to poor touches, being sloppy in possession isn’t a problem exclusive to Salah. So with that in mind, it does seem harsh to blame Salah directly for causing his teammates more work, as it’s an area the Reds can work on across the board. You feel the issue with Salah hasn’t been brought up more often in the past, as no one really cares when he’s scoring goals but also still giving the ball away. The 27-year-old hasn’t scored in his last three league outings, so perhaps that’s why Gabbidon noticed that the winger can cause his teammate issues at times.
