Has Mo Salah ever been as productive for Liverpool as he is now?
Given that he scored 44 goals in his first season with the Reds, it seems almost absurd to ask, but, as strange as it may sound, his influence seems to be far larger now than it did even then. In his last 13 outings for the team, he has scored or provided an assist. His penalty against West Ham, which he naturally won himself, brought his season total of goal involvement to eight through his first seven games.
The glaringly obvious fact is that the Hammers’ fear of Salah ultimately kept them from pulling off a surprise on a windy Merseyside afternoon, despite the fact that they appeared well-organized and capable of doing so. He is now a global superstar known for both his talent and his humility, and he deserves the honor because he is accepting the obligations that come with that stature.
You might argue that he is currently the best all-around forward on the planet given his passing, instinct, vision for the broader picture (as well as for goal yet), and ability to control the flow of a game, all of which have remarkably improved over the previous few years.
And yet he continued to cause so many issues. Because of his goal-scoring instinct, he was able to respond to a tiny deflection from Darwin Nunez and go in front of Nayef Aguerd, who was generally very good, to draw a foul from the defense and score the penalty himself.
Just before halftime, he had another chance to score following a beautiful flowing move when he went just wide. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool had never looked more dangerous when they broke on the offensive.
But West Ham are not slackers. They created issues throughout, and just before halftime, a magnificent goal was scored by Jarrod Bowen, who went in front of Virgil van Dijk and sent a diving header past Alisson.
Here, Salah’s influence demonstrated that he had advanced to a new level. Despite being continuously surrounded, he continued to create opportunities, including one for Nunez that should have been buried, and eventually forced the visitors to falter.
