Henderson salutes superstar Salah
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson summed up the highlight of Mohamed Salah’s remarkable debut season so far with a simple message on the Egyptian’s hat-trick match ball – “Well done superstar”.
Even in the super-ego environment of a Premier League dressing room, there comes a point when you just have to acknowledge a special talent and Salah’s four goals in the 5-0 win over Watford was that moment.
In some ways it was reminiscent of Luis Suarez, a former Anfield favourite, who achieved the feat against Norwich in 2013; in others – specifically his first and third goals – it was Lionel Messi-like.
Salah left the pitch, on Saturday night, clutching the match ball after his first hattrick in a red shirt and by the time he left the ground it had been covered in messages from his team-mates. “Everyone did the ball for him. I just kept it simple for him. I just said ‘Well done superstar’,” said exSunderland star Henderson. Salah now has 36 goals this season, 28 in the Premier League, the best return in Europe’s big five leagues. Sunderland-born Henderson added: “You have someone like Mo who does the hardest part of the game, which is putting the ball in the back of the net.
“Then, as a team, if we work as hard as we possibly can, Mo – or even Sadio (Mane) and Bobby (Roberto Firmino) are going to finish it in the final third. We had that with Luis.
“You know when you are walking out there are so many goals out there for you.
“It’s just about defending well as a team because you know you will create chances.”