Liverpool fans must make the most of Mohamed Salah’s performance against Newcastle.
The Egyptian will not be back for some time after Monday when he leaves for the Ivory Coast following the New Year’s game at Anfield.
There he will represent his country at the Africa Cup of Nations. No one knows yet how long he will be sidelined, but it could be February before he sees the red of Liverpool. And of course, his recent absence has fans a little worried. After all, he was the club’s top scorer again this season and also ranked first in assists. It’s a huge gap for Jurgen Klopp, who has scored 19 goals in the Premier League so far.
In addition, there are of course concerns that we won’t see much of Salah when he returns from the AFCON, with clubs in Saudi Arabia awaiting bids to take him to the Middle East. However, Klopp seems much calmer about the situation. In the January transfer window, the Liverpool manager is in no rush to recruit a replacement, and if he is, he will hide it well. Any long-term plans I have depend on who has the time, so why bother? “If I don’t know who to rely on in October and January when Mo died, who should I rely on?” Klopp told a press conference on Friday. “We have a solution today and hopefully we will have a solution after Newcastle.
It’s not the first time. Losing a scorer is really average, but when Sadio (Mane) and Mo left, we were in a bad situation.“But we’ve always been successful and traditionally at least one of them has progressed in the tournament and that’s made it worse.
We must overcome this. We know the Africa Cup of Nations is coming and Mo has to go. So we have to deal with it. That was always clear. And now he will compete in the Asia Cup alongside Wataru Endo. We knew that and now we have to deal with it and we will deal with it.” But Klopp makes a good point.
Liverpool have been very fortunate to have had a striker as available as the Egyptian over the years.
He has started all 19 league games this season and is in excellent form except for one game last season.Few teams rely on top scorers. Erling Haaland may be in a league of his own, but he has missed Manchester City’s last four league games and there is no clear indication of when he will return. The worst-case scenario for Liverpool is for Egypt to reach the AFCON final, with Salah missing seven games, including four in the league. It’s certainly not perfect, but most teams have to deal with it every season. Klopp should be able to cope in short order without Salah as his current option.
The opportunity to bring in a potential successor is next month, but Liverpool directors should not dismiss the opportunity. United will have to live without Salah in the short term, but it will be much more difficult in the long term. Salah isn’t heading to Saudi Arabia and won’t be there for a while, but he won’t be there forever either. Ideally, replace it sooner, unless absolutely necessary.
