Our Liverpool FC writers debate where Mohamed Salah stands amongst Anfield all-time greats
Liverpool Football Club will witness the end of an era when the current season draws to a close, when Mohamed Salah finally pulls down the curtain on his sensational Anfield career.
The Egyptian arrived on Merseyside from AS Roma in the summer of 2017 amid little fanfare but will depart nine years later as a true legend of the club, with a medal haul to match.
Aside from his staggering 255 goals in 435 appearances, Salah leaves Anfield with two Premier League titles and Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup winners medals, as well as success in the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club Wolrd Cup. His individual honours are too plentiful to list, but include three PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards and another three from the Football Writers’ Awards.
Salah’s remarkable consistent high levels have formed the backbone of his success with the Reds, but where does he rank amongst Liverpool’s all-time greats? Our Liverpool FC writers have had their say.
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Mark Jones
You can glean a lot from watching old footage of footballers but you can’t quite get the full picture. To vast amount of Liverpool supporters Kenny Dalglish will always be the greatest player to pull on the red shirt and I’m not going to disagree with them.
Those of us born a little later thought no-one would ever get close to Steven Gerrard when it comes to greatest Red seen with our own eyes, and the fact that Mohamed Salah has muscled his way in enough to even make this a conversation tells you everything you need to know about the man’s Anfield career.
He might well have done more than that though.
So much of Gerrard’s Anfield achievements were produced when swimming against the tide. He was playing in poor sides and frequently required to drag them up to levels they wouldn’t have even thought possible.
Without Gerrard Liverpool would have become a Tottenham Hotspur or an Aston Villa in the mid-2000s. Huge clubs with proud fanbases both, but also clubs not immune to their problems. Villa were relegated 10 years ago while Spurs might be this season.
All of that means that Gerrard never got the medal collection that his talents deserved, and Salah hasn’t either. The Egyptian is a double Premier League and one-time Champions League winner, but at least one more success could and should have been added to either of those columns.
But for me what he has won, and the way he embraced his status as an ambassador both for Egypt and Liverpool on the global stage, make him the greatest I have ever seen play for the club.
What Gerrard did made it all possible for him sure, but what Salah achieved propelled Liverpool forward to heights, and regular trophies, supporters had dreamed of seeing lifted, and that marks him out as the No.1.
Richard Garnett
Mohamed Salah’s transition from pacy winger to global superstar is something that should be studied. Despite producing great form for Roma, plenty had doubts over how successful he could be at Liverpool, after failing to impress with Chelsea. But the easiest way to silence your detractors is to score 44 goals in your first season.
A combination of lightening pace and a deadly left foot proved too hot to handle for most teams, and with true top tier performers like Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino in support, scoring goals just became a habit for Salah, as part of what was arguably the greatest forward line the club has ever had.
That he was able to sustain those levels following the departure of his former strike partners speaks volumes about the Egyptian and whilst his undoubted talented is partly responsible, it is his professionalism and complete commitment to the game that has made him stand out above the rest.
If you want to be the best you have to live a breath it and Salah has done just that. That he has chosen to call time on his Liverpool career now tells you that he knows his levels have now started to wain at the age of 33. Many forwards are retired by then, never mind still doing it at the very top level.
When it comes to placing him amongst Liverpool’s all-time greats, there will be plenty who would have him at No. 1. I don’t have an issue with that but I’ve been around for longer than I care to admit, and whilst he walks into my all-time starting XI, it’s difficult for me to say that he is the club’s greatest ever player.
Despite his quite remarkable achievements, I actually believe that there have been plenty of players that are more skilful than Salah over the years, but that alone doesn’t make you an all-time great. If it did, Luis Suarez would be a top the of the pile.
What I feel should really qualify a player for such esteemed recognition is combination of talent, desire, success and commitment to that club. That’s why the likes of Steven Gerrard, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush and Graeme Souness will always be in this conversation, even if the latter two did have spells in Italy.
Nevertheless, Salah is surely, on balance, the club’s greatest player since Gerrard and I have no doubt that will be reflected in the reception he receives when he bids farewell at the end of the season. The question is, will there be a final chapter of glory to be written in his Anfield story between now and the end of May?
It hasn’t looked likely, but football is a funny old game.
