Jurgen Klopp praised Mohamed Salah’s ruthless performance after he scored another record goal for Liverpool in his 11th goal on Thursday night.Salah came off the bench in the second half of the Europa League match against Toulouse and scored in stoppage time on the Kop in a 5–1 win. The strike took the Egyptian to 43 goals in major European competitions for the Reds.These were the most goals by an English club player.
It was Salah’s ninth goal in all competitions of the 2023/24 season, leaving him five goals short of 200 goals since joining Liverpool in 2017. In his press conference ahead of Nottingham Forest, Klopp was asked about the striker’s current confidence, fitness and longevity.
Do you have more confidence in Salah’s game now?Yes, he definitely likes the group. I think this is obvious. When you see him on the bench, he always wants to play! But he loved chasing other players and scoring goals. I am very happy for him. Of course he is an adult for a long time, but he is growing for his role for us and for football in general.
Showing that it’s fun to stay on top, enjoy the moment and move on – that’s what he does. It was a beautiful goal, a very good goal. I didn’t know about the records. Maybe if I had paid more attention to him he would have broken a few more records. Because I think he let go once when he could have set the record straight! I didn’t want to do it and I don’t even think about it.
He broke the record tonight. If it wasn’t tonight, it would be broken next week or two or three weeks. That’s for sure. He is a very good player. We’re grateful for that, and we’re confident that everyone will be even more grateful for it later in their careers. Because you realize, “Wow, I’ve seen something very special.” Check out this Instagram post
If you think Salah has become a ‘versatile player’ during his time at the club…Sure. Absolute. Young Mo was a very quick defensive player and played alongside [Edin] Dzeko at Roma. Dzeko forced the ball to be controlled or redirected and Mo was there. Here he had to do various tasks from the first day. He adapted very well. But the leading playmaker was probably Bobby (Firmino), who put a lot of thought into it. Then you don’t need two players who are a bit deeper.
It’s not good anyway, but since we need a player in the penalty area, we need a player who can get the ball over the line. Things are a little different now. There are players with different speeds, especially when Darwin [Nunas] plays. This definitely changes Mo’s attitude and he is smart enough to adapt to these different things. Yes, there’s been a lot of progress since he arrived, but he’s been world class overall. That’s the best thing you can say about a player.
On Salah’s random nature and how 30-year-old forwards have evolved…
The number is 11
mohamed salah
from now
mohamed salah
June 24, 2023
game time
837
show
11
aim
8
Off the pitch he acts like an adult, but he’s just a young player. This is. He is very healthy. If you scan him, most of his bones would be 19 or 20. Because he’s in good shape. No, it’s a game concept. That’s what we try to give our young players. So they all know a lot about football by the end of their careers at age 35, but the earlier they get the information the better.
The moment is clear. He understands the space very well and knows how the players see it. If he doesn’t score, he can be a threat for us and that’s very important. But like I said, the Everton game certainly won’t go down in history in terms of performance, but scoring two goals is huge.
In other games it is important to play much better without scoring, but it is always risky because it opens up space for all the other players. You’re right, but I can’t compare Mo to other players around 30 because I don’t think he’s [30] biologically!
