Continued from the ECHO’s Liverpool end-of-season ratings, this time focusing on Mohamed Salah’s performance at Anfield
If there were any doubts about Mohmed Salah’s dedication to Liverpool following the signing of the most lucrative contract in the team’s history last summer, those doubts were categorically dispelled during the 2022–23 season.
The Egyptian, who is in his sixth season at Anfield after joining from AS Roma in 2017, provided Kopities with a rare glimmer of hope during a campaign that saw Liverpool finish last in the Premier League since 2016.
Salah quietly enjoyed one of his most devastating campaigns as he tallied another 30-goal season at Anfield, fresh from his protracted contract standoff, which turned into a subplot to the Reds’ pursuit of Premier League and Champions League glory in 2022.
Any lingering effects of Liverpool’s Champions League loss in Paris appeared to be forgotten as Salah made an early statement of intent against Manchester City in late July. Salah scored and assisted another goal to help Liverpool defeat Manchester City at the King Power Stadium, ending their 16-year Community Shield drought.
In reality, however, the forward and his teammates had produced the first of many false dawns as their Premier League campaign began with just four victories from their first 10 games, as events in L4 began to fall apart in the months that followed. And while it soon became clear that Jurgen Klopp needed to address a variety of underlying problems, particularly in the middle of the field, Sadio Mane’s transfer to Bayern Munich caused the team to go through a period of transition as Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez started their first full seasons on Merseyside.
Salah and his teammates were on the outside looking in during the worrying first half of the season as Man City and Arsenal battled for the Premier League title as the Reds lost to Manchester United, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, and Leeds United. Salah had scored a pitiful six goals in 17 league games.
However, as is typical with such ebbs and flows, Salah came off the bench as a substitute and scored the fastest-ever Champions League hat-trick against Rangers, 7-1, just days before he completed the ultimate smash-and-grab over City. The forward’s two-goal barrage against Tottenham Hotspur in November gave Liverpool its first away victory in the Premier League in six months.
Soon after, he was given the opportunity to reset in November and December when the rest of Liverpool’s non-World Cup contingent traveled to Dubai. However, despite scoring the opening goal in the Reds’ 3-1 Boxing Day victory at Aston Villa on their return to Premier League action, both the player and the team’s fortunes would worsen before any signs of improvement.
Losses at Brentford, Brighton (in the Premier League and FA Cup), and Wolverhampton Wanderers were the torment. And for Klopp’s team, that stretch of just one goal in 360 minutes of league play was the lowest point of a discouraging campaign.
Salah had his sights set on writing his name into the Anfield record books once more, but a run of 11 goals in his final 15 Premier League games allowed him to overtake Steven Gerrard and Robbie Fowler in the
And when the Reds miraculously emerged from the mire to only narrowly miss out on qualifying for the Champions League following an impeccable 11-match unbeaten run in the final weeks of the season, Salah, after one of his most trying seasons at Anfield, returned to a position of royalty as he played alongside Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz in a slick, new-look front three.
The Egyptian captain, who has transformed into a serial winner during his time on Merseyside, will undoubtedly feel the pain of a trophyless campaign, but after just finishing his fourth 30-goal season with the club, Salah will be as prepared as they come when Liverpool plots a return to the Champions League the following season.
club’s all-time scoring charts. A brace in Liverpool’s historic 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United also cemented his position as the Premier League era’s most prolific scorer.
The thrashing of Erik Ten Hag’s team nonetheless turned out to be a catalyst for Liverpool in the long run, and it also happened to coincide with Salah becoming the first player in the team’s history to score in eight straight home games, despite the fact that he missed his penalty during the defeat at Bournemouth just six days later.
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