Will the Salah transfer SAGA affect his Liverpool legacy? | The Pitch
In this episode of The Pitch, Lewis Steele from the Daily Mail is joined by David Lynch to break down the biggest question hanging over Liverpool FC - what happens when Mohamed Salah leaves? The guys discuss Salah’s legacy at Liverpool and where he ranks among the club’s all-time greats Whether the club is prepared for life after him and the realistic replacements in today’s market. liverpoolfc arsenal mosalah salah thierryhenry
Transcript
Is Mo Salah the greatest overseas player the Premier League has ever seen? On this episode of the pitch, we dissect Mo Salah's decision to leave Liverpool. Has the saga damaged his legacy? And who replaces a player of his level? And then the big debate. Is he Liverpool's greatest of all time? And David Lowes, let's start off by talking about the decision for him to leave. In December, David, he insinuated that someone might not want him at the club. Was that the case? I think that was maybe maybe kind of over-egged a little bit. This idea that kind of behind the scenes people were were plotting to get rid of him. I think it you know, it did show that there had been a a huge breakdown in the relationship with not just maybe Arne Slot, but kind of people further up, you know, you think of the the the sporting director, etc. Um so, it maybe hinted a little bit of that, but I I don't think there was any kind of plan to to force him out of the club. I just think there'd clearly been a shift in how they felt they could use him, what his value was to the team at that time, which is, you know, is is a decision that a coach has to make, particularly with a an aging player. So, I don't think there's anything more sinister to it than that. But, what I would say is that outburst, I think, was kind of the beginning of the end, and I do feel that that's led us to a situation where he's had to, you know, he felt he's had to leave. Lowes, do you echo that? Yeah, I echo what David just said. I think what what he came out with at Leeds in the mixed zone at Leeds was maybe more severe than it's it's reflected upon now. I think a lot of people have forgotten just what he said, the gravity of what he said about the manager, about the club in general. I I don't think that's the sort of thing that you can come back from with just a handshake and a you know, we're mates again now. I've always thought there was more to it in the Salah v. Slot, whatever you want to frame it, sort of. I think many people were saying it was a civil war at the time. I don't think it was quite that far, but I don't think that relationship could have ever been repaired, really. And I think it was either going to be Salah leaves or Slot leaves. And at the at this moment, it looks like it's going to be Well, it is going to be Salah that leaves. It's just whether Slot follows he's a man of the door. Do you think he was ever thrown out under the bus like he claimed? I think Salah does have a tendency to maybe over-exaggerate things slightly. Um, it wouldn't be the first time he's done that, but I suppose he also a player of his talents earns the right to, you know, speak out how he does. He knows that his words travel around the world in seconds. Um, but yeah, I think Salah maybe exaggerated it slightly. I don't really think the club threw him under the bus. I mean, they just gave him a 400 grand a week contract 6 months before those comments. So, if that's throwing someone under the bus, then well. And so be it. No, it's it's look, it's it's incredibly interesting. I think that what we've seen over Salah's time at Liverpool is a player who gives his all and never got injured and played week in week out winning everything there is to win. So, his legacy before this was undeniably intact. Do you think it's changed at all from these comments? I wouldn't say so. I I I think you're going to struggle to make that case with the fans as well. At the end of the day, when people reflect back on on Mo Salah at Liverpool, I think they're going to be thinking of all the goals, the many many goals, the assists, the brilliant performances, and of course the trophies that he brought to the club. I don't think anybody's going to really remember what happened at Leeds as kind of the turning point or or, you know, it it may have been It was a significant moment in his Liverpool career in that, as I say, kind of signaled that the beginning of the end, but outside that that's not going to be the thing that fans think about. They're going to think about the moments of joy that he gave them, and there were so many of those over the years really that that overshadows any kind of, you know, nonsense or arguments that have happened behind the scenes. >> So, if you look back on this era of players that Salah's, you know, kind of led, what is the moment you look back on the most? I think him scoring a penalty in the Champions League final was a key moment. It's obviously it's only a penalty if you if you want to kind of call it that. They're they're the kind of easiest chances that that strikers tend to get, but I think because it had come 12 months on from from what happened at heartbreak in Kiev and and you know, he was kind of such a figurehead for that team. Obviously, they won the biggest prize it's possible to to win in that moment in Madrid. It was just such a massive moment and it was it was so fitting that he scored and have those kind of nerves of steel to to put that penalty away early in the game, which very much decided how the game was from that point and of course decided in terms of of winning it as well. So, I think that's a a huge moment for him. >> Well, as an Arsenal fan, I'll always love him for that moment cuz it set it set on my nerves quite early on. That would have been the worst day of my life, to be honest with you. Uh in terms of the slot and the Salah, you know, disagreement behind the scenes. You know, they kind of made up and it was like a handshake, not a hug was the line, wasn't it? Do you think this has done more damage to Slot himself than Salah? Yeah, I do actually. I think I think there was fans turning against Slot before that because the run leading up to that incident had been terrible. They lost 4-1 against PSV. They got thrashed by Nottingham Forest at Anfield. But, I think fans were still a bit like, "Listen, he's won the league. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now." But, I think when the Salah thing happened, when Salah came out and said what what he said about Slot, I think that was the moment where a more minority turned to a majority of Liverpool fans that became dissenters against Slot. I think that naturally, they had to pick sides and they all going to side with the guy who's been there for nearly a decade over the bloke who's been there for a year and perhaps has never really connected with the fans. I mean, you never saw Slot going over to the cop and you know, giving it all that. He's not that sort, so fair enough. But, Salah's always been a fan favorite. He's I would be very very surprised if he's not miles ahead in the shirt sales over the last 9 years since he's been at the club. Um and the fans did just say, "Do you know what? I'm on Salah's side here." A lot of them anyway. Some of them some of them were like, "That's out of order." And, you know, fair enough. I think you can see both sides of that story. But, I think that was the point for Slot that if he does end up losing his job, he may look at that incident as one of the key turning points. And what about the other players in the dressing room? Do you know what side they took? I mean, publicly, we don't know. I think a lot of the players have said they respect Salah for what he's done, but a few of them have sort of hinted that the fact that they maybe wouldn't have said the same same thing themselves. A lot of them have publicly backed Slot when asked, you know, "Are you behind the manager?" Virgil van Dijk's come out and said he's let the let the head coach down at times this season. Alisson's backed him in a press conference as well. But, I do think naturally the players inside there will be like thinking similar. Um, you know, thinking, "Well, maybe maybe Mo has has a has a has a point there because at the end of the day, he's a leader, maybe not in terms of wearing the armband, but he's the the standard bearer, similar to Virgil van Dijk that they all look up to, you know, when when they were joining Liverpool, they'd be thinking, "Oh, wow, can't wait to play in the same team as Mo Salah." So, whatever he says carries a lot of weight, not just in the fan base, but also in the dressing room, and it'd be hard for those players not to maybe feel get behind Mo in this in this tough moment for him. Do you think Salah no longer being in the Premier League makes the league itself, you know, a poorer league? Yeah, I think I think it's fair to say cuz I think you you do you always need your superstars going to be the the main attraction. If you you think of what kind of, you know, having Ronaldo and Messi in the league for so long, that made that such a a watchable league. And maybe kind of some of the, you know, shine goes away when you lose big superstars like that. Albeit, you know, Real Madrid always going to replace that. You know, you've got Barca with Yamal, you've got Mbappé at Real Madrid or or Jude Bellingham. So, they always kind of keep that going. Whereas, the Premier League, you're watching De Bruyne go, Salah's going now, you're starting to think, "Okay, who's going to be the next superstars that are stepping forward and there maybe aren't as many obvious candidates now. So I do think it makes the league kind of less attractive. You do need those superstar names, but of course the idea, not just for Liverpool, but just clubs in general, they've got to find those replacements. They've got to create those kind of legends who are really going to sell the league. So yeah, it does feel like a big loss in terms of marketing the league almost. Well, absolutely in terms of the marketing, you know, he is one of the greatest overseas players the Premier League has ever seen. And it's something that's been brought up in conversation recently, of course, because he's leaving and people think about where he ranks amongst them. Who do you have as the best overseas player? I've always kind of maybe this is just the era that I watched, but always kind of felt that Thierry Henry and I and I struggled to come away from that. I just think he was, you know, you think of that assist record he had that just marked him out as not just an elite goalscorer, but also a creator. Although albeit Salah's got very close to that record on on a couple of occasions. So he's right up there, but the fact that Henry holds that record for me, that has some significance and I think there's also this is not to do Salah down, but I think Henry had a touch more grace about the way he played the game and I think aesthetics are important in the way, you know, that you consume football. I mean, there's a there's a cigarette paper between the two, don't get me wrong. I I think they're very very close, but for me it's Thierry Henry, but the fact he's even close, um that tells you how good he was. Yeah. Luis? Yeah, I'm I'm with David on Thierry Henry. I know you're obviously an Arsenal fan, so not just saying it cuz you cuz you slept with both of them under the table. But um I think Mo Mo's right up there. If you look at his longevity, the fact that he was signed on a relatively low fee. I mean, 30 35-ish million is is, you know, it's loose change Premier League clubs. Um I think probably for similar reasons, when I was getting into football, that Arsenal team were one of the first teams that I, you know, watched regularly and Thierry Henry was always the main man. So, maybe it's just more the fact that he was the first superhero I saw in the Premier League. Um, but Mo Salah is right up there. I was thinking, you know, Kevin De Bruyne as well. He could do things with a football that not many could. Also, Ronaldo had his had his time here as well. Um, but I I don't think he quite had the Premier League longevity. So, for me it's probably just Thierry Henry, but as I say, as as David says as well, only Did you just Does Salah make your top three? Oh, yeah, 100% yeah. I think I think for me it's um, Henry, Salah and De Bruyne. Uh, but you know, if they could go in any order and I wouldn't grumble, to be honest. >> Yeah, I I would agree with that and I think the fact is that you there's no question in my mind that if you do a Premier League all-time 11, he's on the right wing. You know, there's nobody gets close to him in terms of that position, that's for sure. And and like you say, top three at the at the very least. And if someone said it was Salah, you'd you'd struggle to disagree. So, you know, he's right up there. What's the difference then? Because now, you know, he's held in such understandable regard a high regard. At Chelsea he was a flop. You know, then he went off to Italy and he had a couple of spells over there and he's come back and, you know, he just dominated the league for nine years. You know, what what do you think changed? I just think it was maturity. I think he had to go away and kind of learn a little bit more about playing a role in a system, learn a bit more about himself as a footballer and and just find that consistency of playing and and learning all those experiences that he got in Italy were just absolutely crucial to him becoming the player that he did. So, he was just he was just a young player when he came and, you know, he joined Chelsea at a time when they had so many superstars ahead of him as well. And it's interesting that we're talking about top three Premier League players. Well, De Bruyne was a a flop at Chelsea as well and and we put him up in there. So, um, it can just be timing, can't it really? And he was a very young player. Um, he just needed that time to develop and when he came back he was ready then to to absolutely explode. Absolutely. And he's um, he's someone who is effectively irreplaceable. However, I've asked you both already about this today. He's going to need to be replaced some way or another. Who do you think is the person they should go for? It's the well, 100 million pound question, isn't it? It's going to cost a lot of money to do so, and I I don't think all the names that you can reel off, Michael Olise, Xavi Simons at Leipzig, Yankuba Minteh. These seem to be the names that come up the most. None of them are really appealing to me. I mean, Michael Olise maybe, but I always think he's probably the most unattainable of those three given how much Bayern would probably want for him. He just signed a long-term contract, but he's going to have to be replaced. I think personally Liverpool needs to sign two forwards this summer. Um whether that's two wide forwards, however they do it, I just think Federico Chiesa is probably going to go. I don't think Luis Díaz was ever really replaced. They sort of said at the time maybe Rio Ferdinand or they thought he'd step up, but he he hasn't had the minutes he would have some people would have liked for him to have at the time. Um and I just think they've really struggled in terms of rotating that front three. Cody Gakpo's form's gone like that this season. So, I think they need two forwards, but for me Xavi Simons at Leipzig, I can't say I've watched enough of him to know how good he is. But one thing you would say is if you look look at Liverpool's track record of signing these sorts of players, they don't get There's not many misses in there. But the problem he or whoever it is will have is he will be known as the Salah replacement. Yeah. There's no way he's going to come in and score 30 goals next season. None of them will do. Um so, they they almost need to just get that out of their head because they're going to have a lot of pressure on their shoulders. And you look at you look at when Gareth Bale left Spurs, they signed about seven players, and they were all terrible, to be honest. Um you look at these big players over the years in the Premier League and how they've been replaced. A lot. A lot of clubs get it wrong when replacing these really good players. Um so it's going to be the sort of decision that will define the next 5 years for Liverpool. I think as well though because he's not had by his standards the best season ever. Do you think it might be a bit of a smoother transition almost? It's not like say for example he went at the end of last season but God like this is incredible. How do we do this? And now they're already kind of you know playing without him more often than not aren't they? Well That's it. You you've seen a slight decline there which by the way you know that's not a criticism at all. The fact that he's held off kind of the age curve for so long is is ridiculous really and shows you how good and how dedicated he's been. And but it does it makes it feel a little bit easier and I think one of the good things as well and I think this is how they've got to think about it. Liverpool aren't going into this thinking they are looking for a Salah replacement almost because the idea they're going to go and find a winger somewhere who's getting 30 to 40 goals in a season, you know, you you can't replicate what he's done and and the style with which he's done it it's it's just it's going to be impossible to do that. And I think they've already prepared for that. Signing in Ekitike and Isak they want to funnel more goals through the center forward. So you're almost looking for less of a kind of wide goal scorer although you want them to chip in but more of a kind of creative from that side. So um that maybe makes things a little bit easier for them in terms of the market the scouting cuz if you were looking for someone who was like Salah when he came at the age of what 23 24 it's a fool's errand. There's no chance. So I think someone who's going to be maybe less of a guarantee of goals but more of a creator um for those the center forwards that they bought last summer. And who would you like? I think Di Amande looks encouraging in terms of the numbers there. He's he's really good in terms of creativity. He's a good age as well. Um and I think he can be a bit more of that facilitator. He can play off either side as well by the looks of things. So um you know there's a lot to like about him I think and he just kind of suits Liverpool's model um in in the age coming from one of the Red Bull clubs as well. So he'll be a good presser, adds the pace back in and he's a dribbler which I think is you know he's ranked so highly for dribbles. I think that's the Premier League as it is now with these kind of the low blocks are better than they've ever been. You need 1 v 1 quality to unlock that, and I think he's got that in spades. So, he could be a really smart signing, I think. Absolutely. And yeah, Salah was one of the smartest signings Liverpool in the Premier League have ever seen. I want to know from both of you, is he Liverpool's greatest ever player? Lewis, I'll start with yourself. If it's not Salah, who do you think it is? For me, it's a toss-up between him and Steven Gerrard. Um and I'm ruling out the likes of Ian Rush, Sir Kenny Dalglish, these sorts of people purely because they played before my time. So, I can't like I would never put Pelé or Maradona in that debate. I've not watched them play, so I'm not going to use them. So, I was growing up the same time that Steven Gerrard was it seemed to me like he was banging in screamers left, right, and center, winning games on his own. And Salah's almost done the same in in in this era. The thing he's got Salah is that he's he's won more trophies to go with it. I know Gerrard obviously won the Champions League, FA Cup, things like that. But, Salah's got two Premier League titles, and last season especially, he was by far the best player in the league. Liverpool won the title by 10 points, I think. I'm not saying they wouldn't have won it if he had broke his leg on the first day, but I I they wouldn't have, you know, won it at a canter. I think he won that title for them last season. And I think when you look back on that season in 5 years, you'll probably think, "Do you know what? If they didn't draw PSG, and they had a kind of draw, they proba