Wenger critical of Mo Salah and says Liverpool star is too obsessed

Mo Salah TEAMtalk

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes Liverpool’s talismanic forward Mohamed Salah is far from the perfect footballer and has one major facet about his game he must improve on.

Shortly after being taken off during last Saturday’s 3-0 win at Burnley, Sadio Mane appeared to shout towards the Liverpool bench in reaction to Salah’s earlier decision to shoot rather than pass to the Senegal international, who was in a better position to score.

The subsequent reaction of Mane has sparked plenty of debate about both Mane’s reaction – Jordan Henderson defending him here – and whether Salah is too greedy in front of goal.

And Wenger certainly believes Mane had a point and that Salah is “too obsessed” with scoring goals, though the Frenchman did compare the Egyptian star with a certain Lionel Messi.

“He [Salah] has similarities with Messi,” Wenger told beIN Sports. “He must find the consistency of Messi.

“I find he’s a good finisher but Messi has the complete thing, he gives the final ball as well.

“Salah is a bit obsessed with finishing himself.

“That’s a dimension he’ll get certainly, when he grows a little bit older, to find the moment when you have to give the ball and when you have to finish.

“But I like him very much, he has huge potential. Mane as well.”

 

Wenger praise for Roberto Firmino

Wenger, however, did have plenty of praise for Roberto Firmino and insisted the Brazilian made plenty of sacrifices for the Reds.

He added: “But you forget a little bit the guy who sacrifices himself is Firmino.

“And like (Luis) Suarez did for Messi and Neymar, [Firmino] is the guy who works for the team, who works for everybody and gets them to shine.

“This piece of the jigsaw is always difficult to find, a striker who is generous.”

 

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