Jurgen Klopp has insisted Mohamed Salah his back to his very best having made a slow start to this ongoing campaign.
Salah couldn’t continue in the Champions League final last season following a rough tackle from Sergio Ramos resulted in a shoulder injury. He went on to compete in the World Cup with Egypt but couldn’t manage the same intensity.
The injury and a prolonged hectic schedule in the summer seemed to have taken a toll on his body as he made a rather sluggish start to this campaign. Last season’s record breaker Salah failed to replicate the same intensity as netted just three goals in his first 11 games.
But in the last few matches the Egyptian has found the rhythm and with a number of crucial fixtures piling up ahead, Klopp would be happy to have a full fit Salah at his disposal.
The gaffer said, “The body is back, 100%, the physical things he can rely on.
“They all went to the World Cup, a very long World Cup. Egypt went out earlier but Mo played a World Cup at 94 or 95 per cent fit because of the shoulder. He then had two, three weeks off. That is nothing.
“Then pre-season starts again and for the first time in his life it was clear that after scoring more than 40 goals it is – how do we deal with that? Will he score 40 goals again? Is it even important to score 40 goals again? Of course not.
He always tried everything. The only thing was his body needed time to adapt. Still a world-class player, still a threat in a game, but in the scoring situations not the same calmness or the same coolness.
“But since before the last international break it was completely obvious in each training session it had clicked again. He’s there.
People need time but you, we, don’t give them time because we don’t have time. If you are in doubt easily then it could affect you but not for one second was he in doubt and I was not in doubt.
“Even Mo Salah is a human being and he needed time.”
