Jurgen Klopp says Mo Salah is now ‘the complete player on and off the pitch’ after he scored in Liverpool’s 5-1 Europa League win last night, adding: ‘He’s the got the body of a 19-year-old!’
- Salah’s goal against Toulouse took his European tally for the Reds to 43
- He passed Thierry Henry for scoring the most European goals for an English club
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
Mo Salah is now the complete player on and off the pitch, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
The Egyptian came off the bench and scored the fifth goal in a Europa League rout of French side Toulouse on Thursday, with Salah now on nine for the season in all competitions plus four assists.
His goal took his European tally for Liverpool to 43, meaning he has now leapfrogged Thierry Henry with most goals in the Champions League or Europa League for an English club. Klopp hailed his star man and said he is still improving.
‘He has been the man for us for a long time now, but he is growing in the role he has for us in football and maybe in general to show that at the top level it is nice to enjoy the moment and then you go again,’ said the German manager.
‘He scored a wonderful goal, a really good goal, I didn’t know about the record. He is such a good player. We appreciate him and everyone will appreciate him even more after his career because then you will say, “Wow. We saw something really special”.
Salah came off the bench to score in Liverpool’s 5-1 win against Tolouse in the Europa League
Your browser does not support iframes.
‘Mo doesn’t behave like (he is 31) at all. Off the pitch he behaves is a grown man, beyond that he is still a young player. He is top fit, I think if we were to scan him the majority of the bones are aged 19 or 20! He just keeps himself in such good shape.’
Klopp added that Salah is stepping up in a creative sense and also adapting to a new style of play with Darwin Nunez leading the line being different to when Roberto Firmino used to play as a more all-round forward.
‘The young Mo was a super fast player who could run in behind and play a role together with (Edin) Dzeko (at Roma). Dzeko would roll the ball or deflect it and Mo was there. From the first day here he had to do different things, he adapted extremely well.
‘The playmaker in that front row was probably more Bobby Firmino setting things up and you don’t need then two players who are deeper. Now it is slightly different especially when Darwin is playing we have another speed player up there so that changed Mo’s position definitely.
‘He is smart enough to adapt to all these things and there has been a massive development since he arrived. He was, in all phases, world class and that is probably the best thing you can say about a player.’
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.
It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.
Your browser does not support iframes.
Source: Read Full Article
