At Liverpool, Mohamed Salah has long been accused of being selfish.
Graeme Souness said last year that the Reds forward was the most selfish footballer he’d ever met.
Last month, Alan Shearer described the Liverpool attacker with the same S word.
But tragic images from Anfield on Sunday show that, while the 29-year-old enjoys scoring goals, it pales in comparison to team honours.
Salah scored on 84 minutes to give Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool a 2-1 lead over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
That’s because, at the time, it appeared to be the goal that would give Liverpool the Premier League title – and the joy on his face suggested that he, too, was under the misconception.
What the players and many fans inside Anfield didn’t realise at the time was that Ilkay Gundogan had scored about the same time to give Manchester City a 3-2 lead over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, after they had fallen behind 2-0 to Steven Gerrard’s side with 15 minutes remaining.
And, in the end, Gundogan’s goal – his second of the day after coming on as a substitute – was enough to seal the title for Klopp’s team [BBC Sport].
Salah earned Playmaker of the Year and shared the Golden Boot with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min, but the contrast from euphoria to sheer devastation eloquently proves that, for all the accusations of Salah being selfish, individual awards mean nothing to him when bigger, more significant awards are stolen from him and his teammates.
Alan Shearer on why Liverpool lost the title
Alan Shearer has identified areas in which Liverpool must improve in the Premier League next season.
Speaking on Match of the Day about Liverpool’s Premier League campaign, Shearer believes the Reds must improve their form against the division’s best sides. This season, Liverpool was held to draws by Manchester City and Chelsea.
Shearer feels the Reds must improve their form against the division’s elite sides, as he stated on Match of the Day. This season, Liverpool was held to draws by Manchester City and Chelsea.
He said: “Played six, they haven’t won any of their games, they didn’t lose any either, but that’s a tiny detail that they can look back on and say, ‘Those are the three teams not winning a game.”