Form is temporary, class is permanent ... cometh the hour, cometh the Mo
MO SALAH is out of luck, out of goals, out of form, apparently out of confidence, and possibly out of the team.
But I can guarantee that he will be thinking right now, ‘I haven’t scored a goal in open play since February – so it’s written in the stars I’ll break the drought this weekend’.
How can I predict that? Because I’ve been there myself, many times. All strikers have, even the greatest.
It is just as much part of being a goalscorer as actually sticking the ball in the net, because it is how you deal with the barren spells which is the gauge of quality as a forward.
The best of them, the world-class strikers, think differently, they always believe a run of games without a goal is merely a sign that one is just around the corner.
And there will be an iron belief it will be spectacular, a match-winner in the biggest game.
So if Salah has been feeling uneasy over his recent form, then
believe
me, he’ll have looked at the calendar and picked today’s visit to Manchester City as the perfect platform.
I’m pretty sure the longest I went in my entire Liverpool career without a goal was eight games. And that came in the Trebleis winning season of 2000-01. I was under pressure during that campaign, left out far too often for my liking, but still finished with 18 goals.
There was my spectacular finish in the League Cup final, another decent one in the UEFA Cup final, and I came on at 1-0 down in the FA Cup final… and we won 2-1.
The mentality you must have to be a top striker is simple – you have to be optimistic, no matter how badly things are going.
It’s built into you as a goalscorer... it’s a mindset that is actually built into your movement on the pitch.
You must be optimistic the run you’re about to make will produce a goal, optimistic the defender will miss the cross, optimistic your midfielder will pick out a pass, optimistic the chance taken on will beat the keeper.
If you’re not, then you don’t make the run, and don’t take on the shot. You don’t ever become a top striker.
I’ve watched Salah close up since he arrived at Liverpool – and watched him beat almost all my records, one by one. The thing I see above all else,
a profound belief, and a profound optimism.
You know that rubbish about him being selfish? That’s just self-belief. And quality as a striker, because the better you are, the more optimistic you become.
Salah won’t be worried about the City game, he won’t be hiding.
He’ll be desperate to play, because honestly, he’s thinking today is going to be his day, his spectacular day.
Jurgen Klopp will want his bigmatch experience, his desire, his belief, and his ability to turn games with a wonder goal – as he’s done so many times already against City, whose defenders can only be pessimistic if he starts.
I know if I was in his position, with just one penalty in eight games, I’d be thinking, ‘It means I’m guaranteed a goal’.
After that drought of eight blank games in 2000-01, I then scored five in my next five starts. I think Salah would settle for the same and if he does, then you’d have to think a treble wouldn’t be beyond Liverpool – just as it wasn’t for us back then.
of The mentality a top striker is simple... stay optimistic, no matter how
badly it’s going