I got myself into a spot of bother last week, when asking my Twitter followers who they thought had been Liverpool’s Player of the Year so far.
With the poll I created only allowing four options, I chose Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mane as the nominees.
Then all hell broke loose…
Although thousands of fans voted, with Van Dijk and Henderson the most popular picks, I was still inundated with messages saying it was criminal that Mohamed Salah hadn’t even been mentioned.
In my opinion, at that time at least, the Egyptian genuinely hadn’t merited a nomination, in a season that has seen so many outstanding performers on show. He had been good, but put simply, I thought that several others had been better.
The more I have been thinking about it, however, I have been pondering the idea that I may have been too harsh on Salah.
When you look at the numbers, the 27-year-old has once again excelled for the Reds this season.
He tops Liverpool’s goalscoring charts with 18 goals in all competitions, and is only three behind Jamie Vardy in the Premier League scoring stakes.
On top of that, Salah has chipped in with eight assists, silencing the notion that he is selfish.
There have been times when Liverpool’s No.11 has been quiet by his standards, of course, but it must be stressed that an injury picked up against Leicester City in October could have played a part.
I felt that he wasn’t at his vibrant best during the Autumn and that Sadio Mane was very much the Reds’ golden boy. The beauty of Salah is that even when he is quiet he still delivers, though, with goals scored against the likes of Tottenham and Manchester City during his ‘slump’.
Sure, I have found myself frustrated with some of Salah’s use of the ball throughout the campaign, while there have been times when greediness has been on show, but the positives have still easily outweighed the negatives.
The African superstar finds himself in top form as Liverpool prepare to return to action, following their well-earned winter break.
Four goals in as many league games suggests that Norwich City should be wary on Saturday, and I predict that he will have a fantastic final three months of the season, as he returns at full fitness and brimming with confidence.
Should he win Player of the Year? Not for me. But in hindsight, he was definitely worthy of a nomination.
