The rivalry that really fires Reds
Mo and Mane are Klopp’s driving force
MO SALAH will make history if he follows up his hat-trick against Leeds with another at Stamford Bridge today and reaches 100 goals for Liverpool faster than anyone since World Cup winner Roger Hunt.
‘Don’t tell Frank Lampard that,’ guffawed Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, who isn’t one for chatting individual statistics but still prefers it to transfer speculation.
Though Virgil van Dijk and Alisson are credited with tightening up Liverpool’s defence, Salah remains Klopp’s most important signing, bringing the wow factor back to Anfield following the departure of Luis Suarez.
His 44 goals in 2017/18 was a world-class statement of intent but even more impressive is how he’s continued; winning the Champions League, Premier League and two Premier League Golden Boots.
He has 11 games to reach the 100milestone quicker than Robbie Fowler, and a dozen before Ian Rush, who have the best ratios since Hunt. But the Egyptian would love to finish the job in 90 minutes against Chelsea, his first English club, where he struggled and scored only twice in 19 appearances.
While it’s a long shot, it’s possible if he performs like he did against Leeds. Salah’s hat-trick contained two penalties and a half volley but it was his overall performance that caught the eye.
‘You need a specific personality to invest so much in your career,’ said Klopp in admiration. ‘When you score more than 40 goals in your first season, a few players would say that was nice, now let’s think about other things to make other parts of life more beautiful.
‘He is the opposite. He stayed greedy. He stayed determined. His work rate around the games is exceptional.
‘All players do what you tell them but it’s about how important you see it yourself and that gives you a completely different mindset.
‘You want to be on top of your own potential and that’s what he wants. The numbers are just incredible. If you saw him against Leeds, it was a three-goal performance, even more. And he knows the team help him be the player he can be.’
The consistency of Liverpool’s front three of Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has been remarkable, hardly ever missing games.
The rivalry between Mane and Salah has been evident at times but Klopp insists Liverpool’s success comes from players being motivated by each other.
Right now is Salah’s moment. Last season, Mane received all the praise. As a manager, it’s Klopp’s job to ensure they are all appreciated.
‘Last year people were saying: “Sadio Mane, what a player he is” but he didn’t score three goals in the first game and now people put one in the limelight and forget the other one. But we (Liverpool) are not like this,’ he explains. ‘We expect from them to do their best and that’s what they deliver. Sometimes they score, sometimes not. The story this team wrote is that they push each other but their appreciation between each other couldn’t be bigger.’ Liverpool’s visit to Stamford Bridge has many fascinating subplots besides being the ultimate earlyseason tester for both clubs who got off to winning starts.
Lampard and Klopp previously clashed on the touchline and recently exchanged views on how their clubs do transfer business. Chelsea beat Liverpool to Timo Werner in the summer, though Klopp has since enlisted Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich and Diogo Jota from Wolves.
Alcantara is eligible for today’s game but Chelsea have an injury list containing Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and probably Christian Pulisic too.
‘It is 100-per-cent clear Chelsea will close gaps,’ said Klopp. ‘The transfers show their ambition.’
After Chelsea, Liverpool face Arsenal and Klopp admits his immediate reaction to the schedule was to wonder what his champions had done to deserve such a difficult opening, saying: ‘When you see it, you think: “Someone has an idea”. Give us Leeds then send us to Chelsea then bring on Arsenal!
‘But each Premier League is difficult for its own reasons.’