'He's a joy': Hargreaves believes Liverpool player is one of the PL's best 'by a country mile' right now

 

Mohamed Salah comfortably remains one of the Premier League’s best players, says Owen Hargreaves. The Liverpool forward is in strange form.

Mohamed Salah didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet against West Ham United last night. But then, he played a different position again.

Jurgen Klopp started the Egyptian on the right-hand side. That’s Salah’s natural position, of course, but not one that’s worked for him this season. Liverpool’s tactical change, primarily to suit Darwin Nunez, has seen their wingers stay very wide in order to stretch the play.

But Salah often finds himself uninvolved out there. He ends up with multiple markers, far away from goal, and without the space he usually thrives on.

Centrally, though, he’s been fantastic. Salah scored a hattrick in six minutes as a striker against Rangers. He found the winner against Manchester City in the role, too, and had a couple of moments when he switched there at Anfield last night.

It’s quite clear, then, that Salah’s ‘poor’ form – three Premier League goals in 10 games – isn’t down to his quality. That’s something Owen Hargreaves was keen to preach ahead of the game with West Ham.

Salah is one of the Premier League’s best

“[His ability] never went anywhere!” Hargreaves told Premier League Matchday Live. “It was a slow start and sometimes the numbers dry up, even for the great ones.

“See that even with [Cristiano] Ronaldo this season. Look, Mo Salah is one of the best players in this league by a country mile. He’s a joy to watch, he can play everywhere.

“This guy is one of the greats and the goals will come towards the end of the season. You can guarantee that.”

We wholeheartedly agree with Hargreaves there and his guarantee. But we do think it’ll take a tactical change for Salah to get there. Either than means changing how the wingers operate or moving him into a central role more often.

The latter is our preference and Klopp has suggested that he’s looking at a Salah/Nunez pairing in the middle.