Jermaine Jenas questioned the performance of Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah in the 4-3 win over Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.
The former Premier League midfielder claimed that the Reds winger looked a little bit out of sorts against Salzburg and added there was just something about the player’s mannerisms that didn’t seem right.
Jenas stated that Salah seemed a bit lethargic at times, but then did acknowledge that the Liverpool attacker scored twice in order to help his side rack up their first win in the Champions League this season.
“Salah, actually, looked a little bit out of sorts tonight at times,” said Jenas on the Champions League Highlight Show (BT Sport 1, 22:49, Wednesday, October 2nd).
“His touch wasn’t quite there, something about his mannerisms on the pitch…he was a bit lethargic at times but he turned up with two goals, and he got the biggest goal of all to get them the win.”
OPINION
For a player who was “out of sorts” on Wednesday, Salah certainly did his job. The 27-year-old was in clinical form in his latest outing as he scored twice despite only having three shots on goal, and surely his performance shouldn’t be questioned too much (Source: WhoScored). There may have been times when Salah miscontrolled the ball, which isn’t exactly common for a player of his quality, as he lost the ball six times due to poor touches, as per WhoScored, but the proof is always in the pudding when it comes to attacking players. Salah was cool, calm and composed when his side needed him to score and his moments of sloppiness were cancelled out as a result. Also, Salah’s latest display was a clear improvement on his outing in the 1-0 win over Sheffield United and that should be praised. Against the Blades, the 27-year-old failed to score despite having four attempts at goal, so didn’t make up for the fact he lost the ball five times due to poor touches (Source: WhoScored). So with that in mind, as long as the Eqyptian winger does his job in front of goal, everything else is a bonus.
