Liverpool have a decision to make over Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp may soon be forced to act
For the second time in five months, Mohamed Salah failed to overcome Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto from 12 yards.
When the two sides met on the south coast in March, Salah missed his penalty with a shot wide of the left post, at a time when Liverpool were trailing 1-0 and looking for a way back into the game. That failure meant the score never came and the Reds left empty-handed.
History repeated itself a month later when the Egyptian missed the goal in a 2-2 draw against Arsenal at Anfield. Salah, in turn, converted subsequent penalties against Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham but again missed the target in Saturday’s 3-1 home win over Bournemouth. Liverpool’s number 11, rejected by Neto, is fortunately available to convert the next rebound. But the question remains: should Salah still be the club’s first-choice penalty taker?
Three of his last five attempts from the penalty spot have failed to come in, not an easy statistic to read. To put this figure into context, former Reds penalty shootout pundit James Milner stopped 19 times out of a possible 21, achieving a 90% success rate. Salah, on the other hand, has been off target six times and has an 81% conversion rate. At the end of last season, Jurgen Klopp confirmed he held discussions with the Reds’ talisman over how best to deal with penalties. The final decision was to continue with Salah from the penalty spot, with Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold selected second and third down the line.”We had a conversation and he (Mo) wanted to stay the penalty taker,” Klopp explained. “We had a normal conversation about it and I was like, ‘Okay, it’s you.'” You’re not feeling well at the time and he said that. “I don’t feel good right now”, because the pressure obviously builds with the wrong penalties. Then Fab or Trent, who are two and three, pass the ball to them. (But) He smashed them and turned them upside down. This was a super penalty today, that’s very clear.”With Fabinho gone and Milner gone, an opportunity arose for someone else in the squad to put pressure on Salah. Two obvious candidates to take on this job are Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who have been very close in their careers so far. Mac Allister scored nine of ten penalties taken, while Szoboszlai disallowed just one of his sixteen attempts.If Liverpool change things in this area, they won’t be the first club to take such steps. After Mikel Arteta missed a penalty for Arsenal against West Ham United in April, Mikel Arteta played down the idea of Bukayo Saka retiring. Asked if the England international would still be in charge of the Gunners in this area, Arteta replied: “Yes. Otherwise I will go onto the pitch and pass him the ball so he can take the next one.”Yet that changed, at least on the pitch, when Saka got another chance in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Monday night. It has been decided that Martin Odegaard will move to the north London club, despite Saka being on the field at the same time as the Norwegian.
After the game, Arteta revealed that it was a call from the players on the court and was happy to stick with their verdict. The Spaniard clarified what the club’s number one option is, replying: “I have no idea, it’s a matter of player leadership, and if they feel it’s the right thing to do then I’m fine. They have to make those decisions on the pitch. I was surprised like everyone else, but he scored the goal, that’s the most important thing, and we won the match.”Manchester City have also not hesitated to change tack after tiring of their dismal record of penalties since the appointment of Pep Guardiola. Erling Haaland is currently the club’s most important figure, although Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne have come out on top on other occasions. Riyad Mahrez was one of the players who learned the hard way what happens when you continue to be unreliable from 12 yards and eventually fall down the pecking order. The Algerian’s 68% conversion rate is the 10th worst in Premier League history.
Liverpool are by no means hopeless about the situation, although that tone could soon change if Salah’s recent inconsistency persists. It’s up to the 31-year-old to prove he continues to be the right man for the job.
