'Sometimes I feel sorry for Mo Salah' says Carragher
Cameron Smith
- Updated: 21 Sept 2021 08:41 BST
- 4 min read
Jamie Carragher says he sometimes feels "sorry for Mo Salah" because the Egyptian star "goes under the radar in terms of Liverpool."
Carragher, who himself was an Anfield hero during his playing days, believes Salah's impact on Jurgen Klopp's side can't be downplayed, yet feels the wide forward doesn't get the praise he perhaps should.
Salah, who netted 31 goals in all competitions last season, has been a regular contributor since he switched Rome for Merseyside, and is still yet to score less than 20 goals in a campaign for the Reds.
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It marks a stark contrast to his time at Chelsea when Salah was cast aside in favour of alternatives.
However, Carragher thinks that now he's a Liverpool star, Salah needs to be given more recognition.
What has been said?
Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football Carragher said this: "He is massively important and sometimes I feel sorry for Mo Salah because I think he goes under the radar in terms of Liverpool.
"When people talk about Liverpool winning the league, they always go back to Liverpool signing Alisson and Virgil Van Dijk. Mo Salah came in six months before [Van Dijk].
"It is the three of them but everyone mentions that it was the goalkeeper and the centre-back that took Liverpool to this next level. Mo Salah is a huge part of that."
Salah netted his 100th Premier League goal in Liverpool's recent 3-0 victory over Leeds, and Carragher believes he should be handed more credit due to the fact he's not actually a centre forward.
"We should not forget as well that Salah plays from the right. Yes, he is a wide forward but he does not play through the centre. He is Johnny on the spot.
"If he goes a few games without a goal you just think there is one coming because it is Mo Salah. That is just how it is."
Like several other Liverpool stars, Salah's contract at Anfield expires in 2023, and according to Carragher, tying him down to a new deal will be arguably the biggest piece of business the Reds could conduct.
"While Liverpool have not spend big this summer like other teams they have had a lot of players sign new contracts. The one that is yet to sign is Mo Salah.
"Now, he obviously wants a few quid. And rightly so. Good luck to him. He deserves it. He deserves to be one of the highest paid players in the Premier League for what he has done since he came to Liverpool, he really does.
"He is never injured and year after year he is top goal-scorer. He just is. That is what he is.
"I will say something else. When you pick your all-time Liverpool XI, there are positions where you just think, 'He is in.' Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, John Barnes, Steven Gerrard, Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish. You could fill all those positions no matter what this team does.
"There is nobody you ever think of on the right. Mo Salah will be in that position when he finishes his Liverpool career. He will be in that all-time Liverpool XI. There is no doubt for me about that.
"When you think about strikers getting to 29 or 30, we talk about Cristiano Ronaldo being 36, that guy is a machine in terms of how he looks after himself.
"I think Mo Salah is as professional as Ronaldo, he looks after his body and I think there are a lot of years left in Mo Salah so I just hope this gets sorted sooner rather than later.
"You always debate about money, the player wants a bit more, the club wants a bit less, but that needs to be sorted. Fingers crossed it will because he deserves it for what he has done for Liverpool."
