Jurgen Klopp urged to hold Mohamed Salah talks amid ‘insane’ Liverpool claim – pundit
Frank McAvennie believes Jurgen Klopp should instruct Mohamed Salah to ‘go down more often’ to win free-kicks for Liverpool.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former West Ham striker said that Salah’s ‘problem’ is that he stays on his feet too much.
Following Liverpool’s last-gasp 4-3 win over Tottenham last week, Klopp revealed that he was ‘surprised’ by the small number of free-kicks awarded to Salah given the ‘insane’ number of goals he has scored at the club.
As reported by The Athletic, Salah has been awarded just 31 free kicks this season despite clocking up 2,855 minutes of Premier League football and scoring 17 goals – 55 top-flight players have been fouled more often.
“I know these stats as well and I have to say they are really surprising,” Klopp said.
“He has the ball constantly at his feet. Mo is a dribbler and has scored an insane number of goals over the years and it is like this.”
McAvennie agrees with Klopp’s point but believes the Liverpool boss has a particular issue with Paul Tierney – the referee he criticised in his post-match comments after the win over Spurs.
“I think Klopp’s issue seems to be with Paul Tierney as opposed to all referees, but he has a point with Salah,” McAvennie told Football Insider.
“Salah stays on his feet a lot when he gets touched, when many players would probably go down.
“Klopp should maybe have a word with him and tell him to go down more often.
“I think Salah’s problem in this case is that he stays on his feet too much, but he is a great player.“
In other news, Kieran Maguire reveals what he has heard on £89m Liverpool threat