Southampton vs Liverpool: Mohamed Salah, Jurgen Klopp and an issue that isn’t really an issue at all

The challenge of defending Salah is one Klopp appears to be relishing because it gives him the chance to show Liverpool’s development as a whole

There were times last season when Jurgen Klopp would offer that daffy grin he gives to questions he’s heard before, seemingly wishing he could talk about the side he was building rather than the achievements of one outstanding individual.

Week after week, Mohamed Salah would score, setting new records along the way. It became a challenge for the journalist to come up with a new angle – certainly one that would stimulate Klopp to the point where he was prepared to move the conversation along a little further than it was stationed already.

Klopp, of course, was delighted Salah was doing so brilliantly but his consistency meant repetition and there are only so many platitudes a manager can give a player before it ceases to have meaning.

Besides, the players around him were shining too and rather than discuss one person, he has always preferred to speak in collective terms.

The challenge of defending Salah, however, is a different matter altogether and it is one Klopp appears to be relishing because it gives him the chance to show Liverpool’s development as a whole.

While Salah has not scored in Liverpool’s last eight fixtures, other players in the team have weighed in with 16 goals in total. Three of those games ended as 0-0 draws, but there was only one where Salah – or anyone else on his team for that matter – did not have a genuine goalscoring chance and that was against Manchester United, a performance which seemed to worry Klopp the most at the time - certainly more so than the one against Everton, where Salah should have scored twice but did not.

In terms of big opportunities not taken this season, Salah has missed 15 and five of them have come on this current barren run. Had each of those been taken, he’d be level with Sergio Aguero in terms of significant misses but more significantly, he’d have been three ahead of him in the scoring charts.

Considering Liverpool are where they are, Klopp was asked at Melwood yesterday what it might mean if Salah suddenly starts hitting the target. He was keen to stress that he only worries about a player – or, indeed, the shape of his side – if they do not look like scoring at all.

“If you talk about the team and it hasn't scored for two or three games, you say ok ...but as long as we create the chances, everything is fine,” he said. “The moment we don't create chances that's when we have the problem. That's the 100 per cent truth. It's not the answer people want to hear but it is the truth. Mo feels the same, as long as he's involved and as long as there are chances [for him] there's no doubt because he's always with the speed and this gives us so much space in different moments to play. He's always a threat in behind.”

Klopp insisted Salah was under no pressure from him to find the net soon. The Egyptian needs another three assists in the league to match his record of ten from last season.

“I don't like it when a player goes to a game and thinks, 'I have to score,' I prefer, 'I want to score.' We have different situations in the season and setting up goals is just as important. It might not be as exciting in the stats or whatever but he [Salah] has scored 17 goals and seven assists. That's impressive, actually - a good number.”

Liverpool are trying to beat Manchester City to the title and in spite of Salah’s barren run, Liverpool’s top three scorers this season have together weighed in with more than City’s top three. While Aguero has 19, Raheem Sterling has 15 and Leroy Sane has eight, Salah and Sadio Mane have 17 while Roberto Firmino has 11. Liverpool’s 45 in total beats City’s 42, yet City’s top three scorers have more assists in total with 25 eclipsing 13.

This can probably be explained to some degree by contrasting formations, positions and responsibilities because Liverpool’s front three crowd the centre while City’s are wider. This potentially means that while for Liverpool’s forwards there are more opportunities to shoot, for City there are more opportunities to pass – usually in the direction of Aguero.

Klopp is not concerned by Salah's recent lack of success in front of goal (Getty)

Klopp thinks the extra attention on Salah following his exploits last season has left more space in different areas, particularly for Mane on the other side of his attack as well as Andy Robertson behind him, who has set up more goals than any other defender in the Premier League since Leighton Baines set up 11 in 2010/11.

It became clear that Klopp will not judge Salah’s standards against his statistics from last season.

“His career is not over,” he underlined enthusiastically. “He scored 20 goals this year, so he scored 60 in the last two. Wow! That’s not too bad. He’s a threat, he helps us a lot and he deals with new situations really well. Sometimes you need a bit of time to adapt, but I don’t think he needed that really. He doesn’t seem to be bothered that he hasn’t scored in a few games, and I’m not. As long as we work together and do the right things, he will be fine. The answer for problems in football is always work rate. Do it again and again, as much as you can, as fast as you can, and the ball will one day bounce in your direction.”

Klopp thinks that is what happened on Sunday when Tottenham conceded in the final minutes at Anfield.

“It was an own goal but it was his decisive header [from Salah] which forced it,” Klopp concluded. “Big relief there, I’m sure it felt like his goal. It’s not important if it counts, just that he was in the decisive position. How the ball went in was luck, but Mo was in that situation because we practised it on the training ground. We wanted him to be in that position. Usually Mo is not in the box for those second balls, but here he was. I was really pleased when I watched it back.”