Welcome Mohamed Salah

[Case]

1 minute ago, Benzo-13 said:

That left back broke him in these games. The pacy Mo would’ve had him on strings. 
 

I was talking about Jota, not Mo

[Swipe]

Salah needs a few better lads beside him is all. Mendes was brilliant against him both legs, but Salah still could have scored at least two last night. 

[honourablegeorge]

7 minutes ago, Benzo-13 said:

That left back broke him in these games. The pacy Mo would’ve had him on strings. 
 

I was talking about Jota. 

[Leo No.8]

He’s been amazing this season but part of that has been because we are set up to work it wide to him in space.

Not expecting him to beat the full back too often at 32 but he has been brilliant by being direct, backing up / turning the FB and either shooting or crossing (his final ball has been off the charts good this season).

His final ball and shooting were off against PSG but he has been unreal this season and the failures of Jota and Nunez just heap the responsibility onto him. Nunez will go but I’d be fine with Jota being replaced as well.

Edited 9 hours ago by Leo No.8

[Benzo-13]

8 minutes ago, honourablegeorge said:

I was talking about Jota. 

Soz

[honourablegeorge]

4 minutes ago, Benzo-13 said:

Soz

No worries, it was Case's fault

[RedHarvest]

1 hour ago, Swipe said:

Salah needs a few better lads beside him is all. Mendes was brilliant against him both legs, but Salah still could have scored at least two last night. 

Mendes was good but also got away with kicking Mo a good few times

But I agree, he needs better movement alongside and in front of him, his game is as much about making chances for others

[YugoB]

12 hours ago, Leo No.8 said:

He’s been terrible 3 games running but the bigger picture is who steps up when he’s off? We have missed Gakpo badly. Jota and Nunez should be upgraded.

Jota,Nunez,Diaz all lack in providing enough goals consistently. 

[Cobs]

1 hour ago, Swipe said:

Salah needs a few better lads beside him is all. Mendes was brilliant against him both legs, but Salah still could have scored at least two last night. 

should have had two in the first 10 minutes

[Swipe]

1 minute ago, Cobs said:

should have had two in the first 10 minutes

Yeah can only remember the one at that start and the one off the line right now. Annoying. 

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

6 minutes ago, Cobs said:

should have had two in the first 10 minutes

 

4 minutes ago, Swipe said:

Yeah can only remember the one at that start and the one off the line right now. Annoying. 

should / could

maybe should have scored the one be bent wide, the other was good / lucky defending so that's a could rather than should

[Cobs]

8 minutes ago, Sir Tokyo Sexwale said:

the other was good / lucky defending so that's a could rather than should

it was the wrong choice - back on the ground to the other corner and it's a certain goal

[Dan]

I've got a nagging (probably irrational) concern about him. He's never going to reach the highs of this season again - which isn't necessarily a big problem in itself. The size of the drop off is my worry.

I think he'll end up being a brilliant flat track bully in the league if he stays but less of an influence against really good opposition; not just based on last night but more an observation of him floating around games (and scoring) as the season has worn on rather than completely dominating.

The answer is obvs keep him and get better lads around him who can stick it in the net. Not sure if we'll be able to afford huge wages if Mo stays though. 

It's a really tricky situation if we assume FSG are not going to change the habit of a lifetime with their financial model etc.

[Swipe]

Yeah the elephant in the room is also we need to recruit in a way that allows Salah to not have to play every single game. It’s impossible to contemplate now but you ideally want to have an attack that sometimes picks itself without him, at this stage of his career.

He’s carried our attack at times though this season. With his passing ability he’ll have a field day with better, faster lads. 

[YugoB]

27 minutes ago, Dan said:

I've got a nagging (probably irrational) concern about him. He's never going to reach the highs of this season again - which isn't necessarily a big problem in itself. The size of the drop off is my worry.

I think he'll end up being a brilliant flat track bully in the league if he stays but less of an influence against really good opposition; not just based on last night but more an observation of him floating around games (and scoring) as the season has worn on rather than completely dominating.

The answer is obvs keep him and get better lads around him who can stick it in the net. Not sure if we'll be able to afford huge wages if Mo stays though. 

It's a really tricky situation if we assume FSG are not going to change the habit of a lifetime with their financial model etc.

And it's going to be even more difficult for him to replicate this seasons form next year, with AFCON. Then the following season potentially it would be on the back of the World Cup.

 

[D.Boon]

19 minutes ago, Swipe said:

Yeah the elephant in the room is also we need to recruit in a way that allows Salah to not have to play every single game. It’s impossible to contemplate now but you ideally want to have an attack that sometimes picks itself without him, at this stage of his career.

He’s carried our attack at times though this season. With his passing ability he’ll have a field day with better, faster lads. 

Issue is Salah won't extend to sit on the bench, he'll want every game and every record.

If we get better forwards hopefully they stop deferring to him like ours continuously do.

[Swipe]

10 minutes ago, D.Boon said:

Issue is Salah won't extend to sit on the bench, he'll want every game and every record.

If we get better forwards hopefully they stop deferring to him like ours continuously do.

He will but no top level club on earth is going to guarantee that with a contract. I just want us to not rely on him so much next year. We need our next attacking overlord in place. 

[YugoB]

3 minutes ago, Swipe said:

He will but no top level club on earth is going to guarantee that with a contract. I just want us to not rely on him so much next year. We need our next attacking overlord in place. 

Yeah the lack of consistent production from the other attacking players is an issue when he isn't on it or around. Even if he stays, we need to make changes in the final third. 

[Hus]

13 minutes ago, D.Boon said:

Issue is Salah won't extend to sit on the bench, he'll want every game and every record.

If we get better forwards hopefully they stop deferring to him like ours continuously do.

Do they really defer to him? If anything he has become more of a provider this season. 

Slot is using him a bit differently imo - there is not as much onus on him tracking back so he's often the designated out ball.

I guess that might lead to the perception that their choosing to pass to him rather than shoot themselves. 

[Begbie]

Looks knackered to me, same as Grav. Either that or form has just dropped off

Would really worry about our forward options next year if he doesn't sign