Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he cannot believe what he has heard said about Mohamed Salah in recent times after the Liverpool star had been struggling for form before their most recent win.
Mohamed Salah was one of the stars of the show on Sunday as Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-2 at Anfield to get back to winning ways.
It was a reminder of how good Salah can be after a really disappointing spell for the Egyptian, whose only two goals in his previous eight league appearances came from the penalty spot.
Salah had come in for plenty of criticism in recent weeks, and he was involved in an ugly incident with Jurgen Klopp before coming on against West Ham last month.
There was criticism in the Three Up Front podcast, questioning whether he is world-class, and that has prompted Rio Ferdinand to launch a staunch defence of the 31-year-old following his weekend performance.
Rio Ferdinand cannot believe what he has seen said about Mohamed Salah
Speaking on Vibe with Five, Ferdinand suggested that not enough is being said about what Salah has done in a season in which he has scored 18 times in the top-flight.
“Can I just say something about Mo Salah? I think he’s been disrespected, I’ve seen a lot of comments about him, I’ve seen people talking about him, caning him. But I don’t think there’s a debate that Mo Salah’s been world-class for a number of years,” he said.
“Maybe this season he’s tailed off, but I think in his pomp years at Liverpool, absolutely world-class. Real Madrid only win that Champions League final because he came off injured. Up until he came off injured, Liverpool were the team on the front foot. As soon as he came off the pitch, everything changed. His numbers are flipping off the charts, I don’t understand it. It’s unbelievable, Mo Salah has been so disrespected.
“They’ve got a new podcast, Graeme Souness, Troy Deeney and Simon Jordan; I couldn’t believe the disrespect I was seeing about him. They were talking about him like he was just any guy.”
Liverpool star undoubtedly one of the Premier League greats
Of course, Salah’s previous form does not give him a free pass, and it is disappointing that he went off the boil at a time when Liverpool had the Premier League title race in their own hands.
But Ferdinand is right to suggest that some of the criticism of Salah has been incredibly harsh. Ultimately, Liverpool have the fire power to compete whether the winger is playing well or not, but some of his teammates also failed to step up.
Salah has scored 157 Premier League goals in just 261 games, and is having yet another superb season for the Reds. There should be absolutely no doubt that he is one of the greatest the Premier League has seen.
