The Day Mo Salah Shook Off His ‘One-Season Wonder’ Tag

Article by Jake Clay @JakeClay17 Be honest, you thought it at some time last season. Even if it was only once, a brief thought became whispers amongst chats in the pub that exploded online twitter spats that you refuse to get involved in, but you still linger on what started the arguments. I am guilty and my scene of the crime moment was Liverpool going 1-0 up away at Bournemouth in early December as Mo Salah slammed home his first of the day. The look of emptiness in his face provoked me into asking myself ‘is something wrong with Salah’. Despite my issue is with the look on his face, there was a sense that because Salah hadn’t scored 1080 goals by April, he was on a downward spiral from his 2017/2018 season. Debates started to arise that the Egyptians may have endured a flash in the pan campaign where everything aligned for him. For large parts of the season, the ‘one-season wonder’ tag followed every game he didn’t score, every chance he missed with people forgetting the guy is human. In reality he was still amongst the top scorers in the division throughout the whole of the 2018/2019 season with the likes of Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and fellow teammate Sadio Mane. Salah’s 2017/2018 season was full of memorable highlights at the most prestigious level. Memories of Salah putting Watford defenders on their backsides to seal his hattrick as well as showing the ‘big player’ moments in the Champions League with his equaliser away at City and scintillating semi-final performance against his previous club Roma. 2019 hadn’t delivered Salah’s moment until a Sunday afternoon against his former employers Chelsea.  With the pressure cranked up to maximum due to Manchester City’s result earlier in the day away to Crystal Palace, it was won at all costs to keep the title race alive. It was a day for cool heads who could handle the prospect of having Liverpool’s season in their own hands. Luckily Liverpool’s title charge persisted through Salah’s left foot. After Mane had put Liverpool 1-0 up with a header, which would become his trademark for the rest of the season, the ground was bouncing, and belief was restored. Belief turned to ecstasy when Salah received the ball from a Virgil Van Dijk diagonal and cut inside on his favoured foot.

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What came next no one anticipated, not even Kepa Arrizabalaga standing in Chelsea’s goal who was prepared for the clever through ball or cross. The 25 yards angled rocket that flew past the Spanish keeper into the top corner was a sight to behold. It says something about a strike that it has the same impact watching it live and on the television screen. The noise, oh that noise was deafening as Salah’s teammates screamed in disbelief at what their main man had just done, summed up every Kopite’s jubilation inside Anfield.

A year since this @MoSalah rocket ????

???? SOUND ON pic.twitter.com/ZfrjqT48VA

— The Redmen TV (@TheRedmenTV) April 14, 2020

An out roar of Allez Allez Allez created an atmosphere of defiance that Premier League winners or not this crowd would give everything for them as the players were giving everything for them. For Salah it was a world-class hit from a top-class player and a timely reminder of the ability this guy has. The confidence to take on a shot of that quality was the best response to any doubters inside or outside the LFC fanbase. It even woke up Martin Tyler’s commentary whose high pitch extended scream of Salah’s name at least showed a bit of life from the usual subdued Sky Sports commentary. The moment finally came to Liverpool’s no.11 which would have been the poster moment for winning the league if Liverpool was on the right side of the title race last season. Nevertheless, it was evident that despite murmurs of Salah not being the same player from his record-breaking goalscoring season were wiped out as soon as Salah made eye contact with a Kop end bellowing his name. Article by Jake Clay – @JakeClay17