Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hails ‘all-time great’ Mohamed Salah after Brentford win
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Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah (left) kicks to score his team's first goal.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised Mohamed Salah after his goal in the 1-0 Premier League win against Brentford on Saturday set milestones and kept the Reds in the hunt for Champions League football next season.
The Egyptian striker struck from close range in the 13th minute to become the first Liverpool player to score for the ninth home game in a row, making it to 30 goals this season and a century of goals at Anfield since he joined from Italian Serie A side AS Roma in 2017.
He also moved level with Steven Gerrard’s club tally of 186 goals, sitting in joint fifth place in the Reds’ all-time scoring list.
“As an offensive player, you need to have this desire to score goals. But a lot of people forget how many goals he sets up, so he’s just always, very, very often involved in the goals,” Klopp said of Salah, who has reached 30 goals in all competitions for the third season in a row.
“A lot of other players don’t appreciate people enough when they are still playing and, for us, he’s an all-time great.
“I can’t see him stopping, that’s just his nature. You need to have this desire to score goals.”
Liverpool’s sixth league win in a row left the Reds in fifth spot on 62 points, one behind fourth-placed Manchester United, who took on West Ham United on Sunday, with the match kicking off after press time.
“It’s probably a little bit more exciting than a few teams wanted for us, it’s good that we could get into that region of the table again, but we have to make sure that we keep the teams behind us... nothing is decided,” Klopp added.
“We have three games to go and then, finally, a bit of a longer break, which is very helpful. You could see that today – Brentford had a full week in between their games, we played three days ago.
“It’s a massive difference, especially in the latter stages of the game, (but) the boys got through it, and I’m really happy.”
Expecting the visitors to sit deep, Klopp deployed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo in a star-studded attack, and it quickly paid off as Salah broke the deadlock early.
He started the move before Fabinho crossed to Virgil van Dijk at the back post, and the big Dutchman headed the ball back for him to bundle home his goal.
Before the game got under way, the Liverpool fans loudly booed, whistled and chanted their team’s name as the national anthem was played to mark the coronation of King Charles in London earlier on Saturday.
The club had said on Friday they would play the anthem before kick-off despite acknowledging “some supporters have strong views” on the subject.
The British government’s plans to leave the city to “managed decline” in the 1980s and the cover-up that followed the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which caused the death of 97 Liverpool fans, have been cited as reasons for the anti-establishment protest.
Brentford remain in ninth place on 50 points following their defeat, but manager Thomas Frank believed that his side caused Liverpool problems.
He said: “In many ways, it was a good performance. It’s always disappointing to lose and I know this business is black and white, it is about winning, but to get to a stage where you can have these more consistent performances (is great).
“Today, we pressed really well throughout the game, the high pressure was really good in many situations and we caused Liverpool a lot of problems.”
REUTERS, AFP
