STOP SALAH
Mourinho frets over danger of ‘nuclear strength’ Egyptian star as United head to Anfield in midst of defensive crisis
MANCHESTER United were one of only two Premier League teams to prevent Mo Salah from scoring last season. With Jose Mourin ho’ s defensive credentials under rare scrutiny, he knows stopping his former player is key to pulling off an upset against unbeaten and highflying Liverpool. Traditionally, Mourin ho is one of the game’s most respected organisers, but United have conceded 26 goals in 16 games this season, even more than Brighton. Their back-four has blundered frequently with team selection conducted through a revolving door.
Even David de Gea has caught the wobbles and, to make matters worse, Salah is lying in wait at Anfield today, red-hot after a hat-trick last weekend and a Champions League winner against Napoli on Tuesday.
Mourinho infamously managed the Egyptian at Chelsea and twice sent him on loan to Fiorentina and Roma in 2015.
The 26- year- old’s progress since then has been remarkable and Mourinho says he cannot pass on much inside information about him to his current defenders based on their days together at Stamford Bridge.
‘The Salah I knew at Chelsea was a project player, now he is one of the best in the world,’ says Mourinho. ‘He has developed incredibly well since then on every level. He was a fast fragile boy and now he is a fast strong man. Physically amazing. He was not psychologically adapted to the Premier League when he came from a small club in Switzerland (Basel) to a big club in England. I played him at White Hart Lane and the Etihad and it was too much for him. Now he plays anywhere, Barcelona, Madrid, and he’s like, “I am Mo Salah and I am afraid of nobody”. Liverpool have many strengths but he is a nuclear strength.’
Mourinho’s defence was func- tioning well when he got a goalless draw at Anfield in October last year. Ashley Young stayed tight to Salah in the return at Old Trafford and kept him quiet as United won 2-1. United let in only 28 goals in 2017-18 but that was then, this is now. Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw are injured, while Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling, Antonio Valencia and Phil Jones have all fallen out of favour with Mourinho at different times this season.
Unsure of his personnel, Mourinho is fretting about how to stop Salah, knowing that Jur- gen Klopp has based his team around the Egyptian to an even greater extent since then.
‘We analyse our opponents, their strengths and weaknesses, in every game and when you go to Liverpool you have to speak and think about Salah,’ says Mourinho. ‘We have to think of the best way to cope with a fantastic player and at least try to give him a difficult match.’
With his defensive problems, Mourinho wants a new centrehalf, but claims to be in the dark over any January transfer activity. ‘I don’t know if we are going to have new players, I would like to, but I don’t know if it is possible or not,’ he says.
If United stick to their reluctance to buy it may be taken as a sign they don’t want to give Mourinho their money to spend, ominous for his job prospects.
Remarkably, United have only kept two clean sheets in the top flight all season. If Mourinho wants to show he is not yesterday’s man, he must go back to basics, use his existing players and find a defensive plan that denies and frustrates rampant Liverpool. He must stop Salah.