Salah is not a ‘one-hit wonder’ – he just needs belief to get back on song

The Golden Boot winner last season, the Egyptian is now taking time to adjust to new expectation

CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

The “one-hit wonder” tag being hung on Mohamed Salah by non-liverpool fans is wrong from the start. Last season’s star scored 19 times for Roma in one campaign to earn a £37million move to Anfield. “Two-season wonder” works less well as a put-down.

Salah is demonstrably not the free-spirited finisher who transformed Jurgen Klopp’s team a year ago, lighting a path to a Champions League final where a magical run ended in a shoulderdamaging tangle with Sergio Ramos. Missing in action – for now – is the right-sided flyer who danced on to through-balls in 2017-18, weaving this way and that, and finishing with a softness of shoe that drew comparisons with Lionel Messi. Nobody suggested he was suddenly Messi’s equal, but there were similarities in Salah’s ability to stop, deceive a defender, then cushion the ball into the net.

There was a lightness and speed about his game: a natural vibrancy Premier League defences could not cope with. Even Harry Kane struggled to match his numbers – and gave way, in the end, in the race for the Golden Boot.

Now, Salah’s movements in wide areas look more hopeful than confident. His forays are tentative. And where the scent of a scoring chance last season would have been seized upon, Salah’s attempts on goal lack conviction. His shots are going high or wide or not travelling beyond blocks by defenders.

For most other wide forwards, Salah’s dip in form would be unremarkable. Everyone would just wait for his touch to return. But “The Egyptian King” is discovering the downside of being the best player in the Premier League in a team expected to keep marching on. The standard he set for himself was bound to seem daunting when he returned from his unhappy Champions League final appearance and rushed World Cup preparation with the role of Anfield icon and match-winner.

Those who wondered whether Salah could find that groove again right away were correct to think he is in a new world now. His first season was all about proving his ability to succeed in the Premier League after a false start at Chelsea. His price tag was hefty, but the expectations were not onerous. Liverpool fans recalled Salah’s Chelsea days and thought he may or may not come good. He played largely without pressure until the Champions League final was framed as a “head-to-head” with Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ramos pulled him to the ground.

A new contract in July quashed the idea that Salah might make a quick move to Spain to continue his ascent. By the time West Ham came to Anfield on Aug 12, Salah was Anfield royalty, in a squad strengthened by smart summer buys. He scored against West Ham and against Brighton before August was out, but last season’s spark has generally not been there.

It will return. That, at any rate, is the logical assumption as Salah’s golden period started more than a year ago and is therefore not some brief response to finding himself at a club where he felt loved. He is not a player who lacks physical courage or stamina. The greater likelihood is that while other Liverpool players have increased their influence in the side, Salah is adjusting to his changed standing and trying to rediscover the intensity in his game.

Thirty-two goals in 36 league games last season and a cabinet full of personal awards surely have a value beyond the 11 matches he has played in this campaign. Three goals in that time compare with six at the same stage last year, but he has eight months to reignite his talent. The Liverpool crowd can see his inner struggle and want to support him. The “one-seasonwonder” trolls are being repelled with characteristic Scouse vigour. And when last season’s player of the year drove a 61st-minute chance straight at Ederson, the Manchester City goalkeeper, the Kop broke into the day’s first rendition of the “Mo Salah” song.

A minute later, he was squaring up to Aymeric Laporte, the City centre-back, who seemed taken aback by his truculence. Fernandinho was also surprised, and came over to calm him down. A consoling arm was draped round Salah’s shoulder.

But this is a player who made the Fifa Best Men’s Player shortlist, though he finished third. The joy he spread last season is not hard to recall. The world he is in now is one where great footballers are expected to touch the stars every time they extend a hand. Quiet spells are not really allowed.

Before the game, Pep Guardiola was asked to compare Salah and Sergio Aguero and said: “How many years has Sergio scored all those goals, eight or nine years? For Salah, it was the first one, so we will see in seven or eight years.”

Only this week, Messi destroyed Spurs at Wembley with a level of performance he seems to be able to summon at will. Salah is just trying to get back to where he was five months ago.