(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp insisted that Egypt international Mohamed Salah is in a fine physical shape and doesn’t need to be rested.
Salah has been crowned November’s Premier League Player of the Month after scoring seven goals in four matches to continue his spectacular form this season for the Reds. He is currently on top of the Premier League charts with 13 goals in 17 games.
Despite featuring in every game this season and playing more minutes than every outfield player for the Reds in the Premier League, Klopp feels that Salah is ‘naturally fit’ and does not need rest.
“He had time out already. In the last international break, he did not play for Egypt, he didn’t start at Stoke, we take him off as soon as possible. That’s how it is,” Klopp said.
Salah was dropped from the Pharaohs’ squad against Ghana in the final round of the 2018 World Cup qualifier after Egypt had already booked their seat in the world’s most prestigious tournament in the penultimate round.
“I am not sure he played a lot more minutes than other players in our team, but it is true he starts often. It’s because he is in a very very good moment and it is difficult to think about leaving him out.
“We talk a lot to the medical department and it is really rare that any issues with him. You don’t hear that’s he had a problem here or a problem there, that’s a big thing.
“That’s how it works these times. We and he have been lucky so far that there is nothing around him,” he added.
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
When asked if the 25-year-old Egyptian was ‘pick of the bunch’ so far this season, Klopp said: “Yes, probably. He’s done fantastic.
“He’s scored, he’s been involved. He misses chances still. It isn’t as if he has a 100 per cent quota (strike rate). It’s really good. It is like this, all the other players as well, they can improve and that is a good thing.”
The 50-year-old manager also spoke about Salah’s disappointing spell at Chelsea in 2014. He stayed at the Premier League side for around a year before joining Serie A sides Fiorentina then Roma.
“Mo was a kid. We all need confidence. We all need this kind of help from outside, especially as a young player in a foreign, very strong, very demanding league.
“At Chelsea, there is nobody to blame, they had a fantastic team. If we would have played him only five times this season, and said ‘Ok you need to improve you are not used to our system’, then he could not perform like this,” he added.
