9 minute read
MOHAMED SALAH SPOTLIGHT
THE UGLY
When things aren’t going well at Everton, the fans are never shy of making their feelings known, and they haven’t held back this time either as a promising start to the season has turned into one of immense struggle. A significant slump in form has resulted in the atmosphere at Goodison Park becoming occasionally toxic, with anger being aimed towards the club’s owners as well as manager Rafael Benitez and his team. The appointment of Benitez was risky given his previous association with Liverpool, but although results have been poor, he’s an easy target for criticism when in reality he inherited a tricky situation. In recognition of that, the simmering frustration in the stands spilled over during a heavy home defeat to the Spaniard’s former club in the Merseyside derby, with chants of ‘sack the board’ and the unfurling of a large banner which demanded the club to adhere to its motto, Nil Satis Nisi Optimum: Nothing but the best is good enough. Sadly for Everton, they are a million miles away from being the best. Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri took control back in 2016 with the aim of securing Champions League football and establishing them in the top four, but six years on and despite spending over £500m on transfers, the To ees arguably find themselves in a worse position than before. Many of those big money signings have fallen far below expectations, and the current squad is now painfully short of strength in depth. That fact was ruthlessly exposed by injuries to key players early in the season and having been restricted in the transfer market last summer due to Financial Fair Play, Benitez hasn’t had the chance to really stamp his mark on the club. It may take time to turn things around, but the fans’ patience is already at breaking point.
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FAR LEFT: Everton’s manager Rafael Benitez reacts during the English Premier League match between Manchester City and Everton
LEFT: Everton players celebrate scoring regardless of the slump the team is in
TOP (OPPOSITE PAGE): Bernardo Silva celebrates after scoring a goal for Manchester City
BOTTOM (OPPOSITE PAGE): Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers reacts during the English Premier League match between Leicester City and Chelsea
TOUCHING THE MILESTONE
Liverpool became the first team in history to touch the milestone of 2000 top division wins when they beat Newcastle 3-1 at Anfield.
TEENAGE POWER
Only Arsenal (20) have had more di erent teenage goalscorers in the Premier League than Everton, with Jarrad Branthwaite the 19th to do so for the To ees.
GOING UP
At one stage during the summer it seemed like Bernardo Silva was set to leave Manchester City, but he’s responded by producing the best form of his career. Even with a squad full of incredible attacking options, his phenomenal performances have made him one of the first names on the champions’ team sheet.
GOING DOWN
Leicester City have been a permanent fixture in and around the top four during the past two seasons, but they’re finding it much tougher going this time around. A poor defensive record is perhaps the biggest cause of their problems, but inconsistent performances all round have meant they’ve struggled to rise higher than mid-table.
THIRD STRIKE AGAINST THE REDS
Jonjo Shelvey's goal was his third in the Premier League against Liverpool - of players to have previously played for the Reds in the competition, only Nicolas Anelka (5) has scored more against them after leaving.
DAVID MOYES GOES WINLESS
David Moyes has never won away against Arsenal in the Premier League in 18 attempts (D4 L14), extending the record for the most times a manager has played away at a single club without ever winning in the competition.
SCORING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Since his debut for Man City in September 2015, Kevin De Bruyne has now scored more Premier League goals from outside the penalty area than any other player.
TOP: Kevin De Bruyne celebrates during an EPL match. De Bruyne continues to work hard for Manchester City, as hhe consistently helps them reach the top of the table
ABOVE: Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace
LEFT: Salah celebrating is a common scene in the EPL
MOHAMED SALAH
he Kop End greets Mohamed Salah with the ‘’Egyptian King’’ chant every time he graces the pitch for the All Reds. The 29-year-old has cemented his status as a royalty at Anfield with his consistent brilliance by spearheading Liverpool’s Premier League triumph in 2020, and the Champions League the year before. Since arriving from AS Roma on a £37m transfer, the Egyptian has scored 147 goals and assisted 56 more in 227 appearances for Liverpool. In his first Premier League season, Salah scored 32 goals to win the Premier League Golden Boot, becoming the first player to score more than 30 goals in the 38-match league. Salah grew up in a quintessential Egyptian family. Coming from a regular middle-income family, he fell in love with football as a seven year old, but he did not get his first professional start before turning 18, when he played for El Mokawloon. After the Egyptian revolution, the domestic league got disrupted in Egypt, but Salah managed to pursue his journey as he successfully trialed for Swiss club FC Basel. It is at FC Basel where Salah first showed the signs of becoming a world class footballer. He was in contention for MVP as Basel raced to the Swiss Super League title in the 2012/13 season. While that honor escaped him, he did get named the Swiss Golden Player that season. Salah’s heroics at FC Basel did not go unnoticed and soon Premier League giants Chelsea
"HE ELEVATED LIVERPOOL TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL"
MAIN (OPPOSITE PAGE): Mohamed Salah of Liverpool applauds fans as he celebrates a goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool FC and Newcastle United
BOTTOM LEFT (OPPOSITE PAGE): Salah in warmup
RIGHT (TOP TO BOTTOM): Ryan Sessegnon (R) of Tottenham in action against Mohamed Salah (L) of Liverpool during their English Premier League soccer match
Salah playing for Roma in 2016
Salah against Juventus in 2015, with his team Fiorentina
10 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT MO SALAH
1. No other African player has scored more goals in the Premier League than Mo Salah.
2. Salah is the only opponent player to have scored a hattrick at Old Tra ord.
3. Salah likes to watch movies and is a huge fan of Leonardo Dicaprio and Egyptian actor Khaled El Nabawy.
4. Salah loves to eat and when in Egypt, he makes sure the first thing he does is to eat Kushari, a traditional dish of Egyptian cuisine consisting of a base of rice, lentils, and pasta mixed together with garlic vinegar and a spiced tomato sauce. It is then topped with crispy fried onions and chickpeas!
5. Salah is a huge fan of the American professional boxer, activist, and philanthropist, Muhammad Ali Clay. Like Ali, he keeps fighting back against all the odds and has emerged incredibly in the football world. It appears that the commitment to greatness is a feature they both have in common.
6. As one of the most prominent footballers ever, Salah married his long-term girlfriend Magi Mohamed, inviting the entire village to his wedding party. Many people joined the couple to celebrate their special day; he even asked Egyptian singers to entertain the people.
7. Salah is a very religious man, devoted to his Muslim religion and this is shown by how he always bows down to thank Allah every time he scores a goal at any match he plays. Salah named his Daughter Mecca Mohammed after the Holy site in Saudi Arabia called Mecca but later changed the name to Makkah to distinguish it from the name Mecca Bingo which is the world’s biggest gambling Casino!
8. Mohamed Salah welcomed his second daughter in a British hospital in 2020. The couple named the newborn "Kayan", which is an Arabic feminine name, meaning nature and creation. Salah's second daughter was born in Liverpool, his first daughter Mecca was born in London in 2014 when her father was a player at Chelsea at the time.
9. Salah’s boots are on display at the British Museum. The British Museum has a wide range of artefacts from across the world. Now their Ancient Egypt collection has something somewhat more modern displayed alongside it: Mo Salah’s boots! They helped him score 32 league goals for Liverpool in 2017/18 season, a new Premier League record for a 38-game season.
10. More than one million voters in the recent Egyptian presidential election spoiled their ballot papers, and some of those who did wrote in the name of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah instead. While the election was eventually won by Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who picked up 92 per cent of the vote ahead of his opponent Moussa Mustafa Moussa, it's noted a number of people crossed out both names in favour of the Egyptian international footballer.
