FT English Premier League Preview: Can Salah replicate his form from last season?

I imagine this question has been on everybody’s mind since Liverpool’s Champions League Final against Real Madrid. People are wondering if the Egyptian wizard Mo Salah can replicate his performances from last season. There is no simple answer to this question, but I will try to break down my thought process and let you in on how I think the forward can be a threat in the coming 2018/19 EPL season.

2017/18 was a fairytale season for new summer signing Mo Salah who arrived at Liverpool from AS Roma for a fee believed to be around £35m. Many thought it was an expensive purchase for a player who was most likely going to be a substitute when Klopp’s workhorse, Adam Lallana, returns from injury. Little did we know that the African star sought to challenge the records not just for the club but the historical competition dubbed ‘the most competitive in the world’. Mo Salah grew week by week into a fierce striker capable of scoring against any opposition placed in front of him. If you were not following football last season, you definitely need to know that he scored a record-breaking 32 league goals as well as providing 10 assists in the process. Perfection personified!

Now, the talk has been going on about whether he can grow from this season and replicate this performance especially after seeing his World Cup dreams dashed early in Russia. The Liverpool forward had suffered an injury in the UEFA Champions League final against 13-time champions Real Madrid. This meant that he arrived at the tournament in Russia not fully fit and was unable to make it past the group stage. Many believe that this dented his confidence and could affect his performances in the upcoming season commencing on the 10th of August. Some even drop in the issue of fatigue and say that he has not had enough time to rest which means that he is most likely going to burn out. All these arguments are fair and point to the direction that our bets should not be on the 24-year old Egyptian to star again under Klopp.

But what about the other side of it? What does history say about people like him who dramatically exceed expectations in their first seasons at big clubs? Players, who build year-on-year? Let me help you. Think of Tottenham’s Harry Kane. The forward shocked people when he scored 21 goals in the 2014/15 season. Some even called it a fluke and were convinced that the striker would never come close to those numbers again. Well, they were right. Not in the sense that he failed to reach 21 goals again, but that he has consistently scored more than 21 since that season. He went on to score 25, 29 and just recently reached the 30 goal-mark in a heated race for the golden boot with Salah. This is evidence of a player playing in the same league who managed to produce the goods after an unbelievable season.

Apart from that, Salah’s performance against Manchester City in the International Champions Cup on the 26th of July, 2018 shows that he has not let his foot off the gas. The player was brought onto the pitch in the second half with their team trailing by one goal to nil. It took him only 3 touches in just 53 seconds to find the back of the net and draw Liverpool on level pegging against Pep Guardiola’s side. The Egyptian headed past the helpless Joe Hart despite there being calls for him being offside. His presence inspired the Merseyside club into a victory as Sadio Mane finished off the comeback with a calmly taken penalty on the 94th minute.

What else did they talk about? Oh, yes. Fatigue. They say he is not going to be fit throughout the season. I think these comments are premature as well. Liverpool now have the strength in depth that they have lacked in recent seasons. They recently acquired the services of a certain Swiss talent called Xherdan Shaqiri. The man is short but can give you problems on the flanks and cutting in on his favored left peg. He is most likely going to be taking over in the matches that are not a top priority to the club which especially the cup games. If not him, then Lallana as well will be ready to prove to everyone that he is still a capable team player. All these options mean that Salah can afford to rest and be recalled in the big games to terrorise the defence like he is capable of.

Finally, he must be hungry for success. After witnessing his team bow out to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, Mo Salah must be bitter about that loss, and his lack of contribution due to his injury. His dream, like every other player, is to win the biggest competition in Europe and shine on the biggest stage. After having tasted the fruits of hard work by reaching the final, he must be ready to push again, create chances, and score more goals for Liverpool to realise his dream. Antoine Griezmann is an example of a player who cried countless times after being eliminated by Real Madrid in the competition. But that pushed him to work harder and await his opportunity, and now he is a World Cup champion. Salah is ready for success. I believe he will replicate his performance. What’s your take?

FT English Premier League Preview: How will Aubameyang fair during a full EPL season?

Some call him Arsene Wenger’s gift to Unai Emery. Pierre Aubameyang was the last (mid-season) signing made by the Frenchman before he called time on his long career at Arsenal. There is a lot of hype around the forward and what he is capable of doing. I guess this comes naturally after he claimed Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry’s famous number 14 shirt. The question we try to answer here is how will he fair in a full English Premier League season as compared to other forwards.  

The Gabonese international is a well-known predator in front of goal. He scored a total of 23 goals in 29 matches across all competitions in the 2017/18 season. This obviously includes his contribution in Germany before the turn of this year and his record-breaking start in the EPL for Arsenal. He was brought in with a huge pedigree because he managed to outscore some of the best strikers in the world like Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga. Now, he has moved to England for a new challenge.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang #14 of Arsenal and Juanfran #20 of Atletico Madrid completes for the ball during the International Champions Cup 2018 match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Arsenal at the National Stadium on July 26, 2018 in Singapore."Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images AsiaPac"

The top goal scorer in the previous season was a fellow African, Mohamed Salah, of Egypt who scored 31 goals in 38 matches. Although he scored more than Pierre, the Arsenal man has a better shooting accuracy with 61% and also a better goals-per-match ratio with 0.77. Salah stands at 44% and 0.69 respectively. This on its own, proves that the Gabonese forward is a more efficient goalscorer than the person who lifted the Golden Boot accolade at the end of last season.

It is undoubtedly going to be interesting how Aubameyang will fair in a full season against other top goalscorers in the league including Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, the above mentioned Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku. The new Arsenal coach, Unai Emery, has been preaching about hard-work and is trying to find a new way for the team to play after being used to the tactics of Wenger for 22 years. The recent pre-season friendlies have shown that the team is becoming quicker in transition, which makes them deadlier on the counter. These tactics certainly suit a player of Aubameyang’s abilities whose pace is unquestionable. He managed to score a hattrick against Boreham Wood in a thumping 8-0 victory for the Arsenal. He managed to achieve all of this without the creative genius of Ozil and Mkhitaryan on the pitch. Just imagine how much more he can accomplish with those deadly passers of the ball on the pitch.

I think that Pierre will be a contender for the Golden Boot award in the English Premier League this season. He has already proved that he can do it in England, and can do it better than Salah so there should not be any reason to doubt his abilities in front of goal. However, there are some worries about his contribution in recent weeks after seeing that the new Arsenal coach is deploying the striker on one of the flanks. Against, Boreham Wood, he played on the left and against Atletico Madrid in the International Champions Cup, he was drifting to the right. This might limit his chances in front of goal and might affect his final standing as far as the top scorers' list is concerned. Who else will be the part of the attacking squad this season?

Romelu Lukaku is also in his second season with Manchester United and has adapted well to Jose Mourinho’s style of play. He scored 16 goals and provided 7 assists for the runners-up in the league. His position in the team is almost guaranteed as the club does not have another out-and-out striker to compete with him for his place in the squad. If he remains fit this season, he will certainly challenge Aubameyang to the top spot on the scoring charts.

Harry Kane is a proven goalscorer in the English Premier League. He has scored more goals in every season since the 2013/14 season. He was the top goal scorer for two years running before Salah came back to England. His Tottenham side is suited for a striker of his abilities and he will be sure to bang in goals. The Englishman seems to be more motivated by goals than trophies which makes him a threat to Aubameyang. He will give it his all to be the highest goalscorer in the league after managing to achieve this feat in the previous World Cup hosted by Russia.

Last but certainly not least. Sergio Kun Aguero. He plays for the defending champions, Manchester City, who won the league with 100 points last season. He scored a total of 21 goals in the league despite being dropped to the bench for Gabriel Jesus on a couple of occasions. Some pundits argued that he was the best finisher in the league, and rightly so, but that was before Salah and Aubameyang came onto the scene. Will he have enough to lift his first golden boot award since 2015?

Top Goal Scorer Predictions:

1. Aubameyang

2. Salah

3. Kane

4. Aguero

5. Lukaku

FT World Cup 2018: Tunisia suffer heartbreaking loss against England

Fouls in soccer are inherently bad and referees are there to deal with them diligently, but for Tunisia, a careless foul from England help produced their first and only goal. Kyle Walker decided to stretch his elbow on Fakhreddine Ben Youssef which knocked him to the ground and the referee took notice of it. When the referee granted the penalty to Tunisia, Ferjani Sassi took it on behalf of the team and the ball hit the net just where it needed to.

Tunisia’s performance was more impressive in the second half as they strengthened their defensive line. They shifted to the 5-3-1-1 strategy, which tightened the bolts for them. England then struggled to get the ball past this compressed line of defense. Despite the pressure that Tunisia were able to create in the second half of the game, one goal was all they could get. This strategy was more or less employed throughout the game, however, the outcome was affected by two set-piece plays for England. 

The captain of the English team, Harry Kane, lived up to the moment scoring both goals for England, including the winner late on. He was in the right place at the right time to finish the ball off in the 11th minute after a save from the goalkeeper from the ensuing corner kick. Then, in the 91st minute, another corner kick and another example of excellent placement from Harry Kane that was complemented by his header, which came at just the right time to afford the victory to England.

Tunisia will look to rebound against Belgium on Saturday, the 23rd of June with possibly a new strategy and with hopes of repairing their damaged pride. While we wait for them to revitalize, and pump in new levels of energy, all African eyes will be on Senegal as it takes on Poland. This will be another chance to demonstrate what Africa has to offer at the World Cup.

The Premier League (PFA) Team of the Year is out

The Premier League started off in a good style with many teams looking like they were ready to mount a title challenge. In the end, it was only one horse left in the race with Manchester City out to fight against the records because the other teams had failed dismally. It comes as no surprise that the Manchester club dominated the PFA Team of the Year which was announced by PFA on their twitter account. The most obvious inclusions in that team were those of David De Gea, Kyle Walker, Otamendi, David Silva, Eriksen, Kevin De Bruyne, Mo Salah, and Kane. That’s about 8 positions that were uncontested due to their outstanding performances this season. Everyone else, is questionable. The other players that made it to the 11 include Marcos Alonso, Vertonghen and Aguero who was placed on the left flank instead of the centre-forward position where he plays. There seems to some form of bias because a player like Aguero, although he scored 22 goals in the league, he does not deserve to be in that team because his direct competitor in Kane has already scored 26.

That left-wing position should have been left to his colleague in Raheem Sterling who has had an outstanding season with Manchester City having scored 16 league goals and provided 8 assists. Furthermore, Marcos Alonso has been playing for a struggling club in Chelsea who are failing to make it to next season’s UEFA Champions League. The most consistent player in their Chelsea team was Kante by far, but still, that player could not make it into the PFA team of the year. Instead, credit must be given to Ben Davies who has been called upon to deliver for Tottenham in the absence of Danny Rose who has been injured for the greater parts of the season. That decision to leave out Davies is very questionable.

Finally, we end with the inclusion of Vertonghen in the heart of the defence alongside Otamendi. What we have realised is that the team is dominated by the teams in the top 5 of the league but yet there are other teams who performed beyond expectations and still had players who were outstanding. The player in question should be replaced by Burnley’s Tarkowski who has had a remarkable season this year representing Burnley who are 2 points behind Arsenal and sitting on the 7th spot. Do you think anyone else should have been included in the team? We want to know. Drop those comments below.

Harry Kane trying to keep up with Salah

This season has seen the rise to stardom by an African player in the Premier League once again but this time by a player who had already failed to make the cut in this league before moving to Liverpool. You guessed right, Mo Salah has been in the limelight for the greater part of the season and has even gone ahead of the most clinical English striker in Harry Kane. The Tottenham forward had enjoyed the success of winning the Golden Boot twice in a roll before this season and was probably confident of pipping the usual front-runners in Aguero, Lukaku and probably a striker in Morata who had brought a huge hype when he moved to Stamford Bridge. Little did he know that he would be given a run for his money by an Egyptian winger who had failed to cement a first team spot when he was playing for Chelsea before leaving for Italy. This season, Harry Kane has been behind the Liverpool forward and he recently appealed for a goal in order to catch up with Salah. The Liverpool forward scored his 30th Premier League goal during last weekend and Kane had to wait for Tottenham’s game in hand played on Wednesday to also score a goal in a match that ended in a draw for the Spurs against Brighton & Hove Albion. There are only four games left to play and the Tottenham striker has vowed not to give up without a fight. Again we ask, will Kane have enough to pip his counterpart for his most prized asset? Drop your comments below.  

Liverpool hit 5 past Watford

Excellence personified. Mo Salah was at his best when Liverpool faced a Watford side that was still wounded from a 3-0 loss against Arsenal not so long ago. The Egyptian was ready to make the show his as he scored 4 goals and assisted the other for Roberto Firmino. This means that he is at 28 goals in the EPL, four ahead of the injured Harry Kane and is tipped to edge out the rest in the homestretch. Some have started comparisons between the player and the Argentine great, Lionel Messi but his coach, Jurgen Klopp, thinks that it is too soon to mention such names that have done it for 20 years. He however, mentioned that he believes that his player is on his way to be considered one of the best footballers in the world if he keeps his head down and do what he does best which is scoring goals. The race to be the best in the African continent is already finished with his closest competitor Aubameyang of Gabon also joining the Premier League in January but failing to keep up with Salah’s stats. Is Salah there yet? Tell us what you think.

Race For EPL Top Goalscorer

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool is on par with Harry Kane as the English Premier League top goal scorer with 24 already to his name this season. The Egyptian winger is the talk of the moment and was interviewed by former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher on Friday. The player reflected on the fact that he has managed to score against all the other top 6 teams except for Manchester United and he feels he still has some unfinished business. He recalls the missed chances in the game played at Anfield and has been studying De Gea’s weaknesses because he is planning on scoring past the goalkeeper who is in the form of his career as well. The player says he looks for a goal in each game and wants to continue with his impressive form and go on to win the golden boot ahead of the best strikers in England. Do you think the Egyptian has what it takes to outscore Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero and the rest? Drop your comments below.