Liverpool opened the Arne Slot era with a 2-0 win at newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday at Portman Road.
Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah were the goalscorers for the Reds, who started the game in a sloppy manner, but took things to another level in the second half.
With Euro 2024, Copa America and the Summer Olympics taking centre stage, it meant that a lot of players simply aren’t at the fitness levels required because of how late they returned to their respective clubs.
Liverpool won all their pre-season matches, but Arne Slot, in his first game in charge as manager, had to work with a broken squad throughout, added to the fact that no new faces have arrived this summer.
That was probably proven by their slow and ineffective first 45 minutes because Ipswich thought there was a chance of something and an upset of a kind.
Liverpool narrowly missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City last season, and in the second half at Portman Road, they showed why they went so close.
One man who Michael Owen highlighted was their star forward, Salah, who assisted and scored, once again, on the opening day of the season – he has scored in a record-breaking nine opening days.
The 32-year-old wasn’t part of any summer tournament, he didn’t feature for Egypt in Paris for the Summer Olympics and is ready and fresh for the new campaign after his injury-hit season in 2023/24.
Owen noted Salah’s fitness levels and how he has been stunned by how ‘really impressed’ he is because of the types of runs he makes.
The former England striker stated that Salah doesn’t cover as much ground as other players or is seen walking on several occasions, but he is ‘sprinting at full pelt’ off the shoulders of defenders when it’s his time for action.
Owen highlighted that these ‘lung-busting’ runs ‘takes it out of you’ and he doesn’t stop doing it, even in the 90th minute, hence why he is so impressed by how fit he is, as he told Premier League Productions (17/08/24 at 2:45 pm).
Mohamed Salah’s fitness levels
“No defender wants to be sprinting back into their own half and it’s amazing how many times he did it, yet he still got his timing right and he was still very difficult for the Ipswich defence to be able to pick up,” said Owen.
“His fitness levels today really impressed me. We mentioned the heat before. You look at all the stats and he hasn’t covered as much ground as ‘x, y and z’. His runs are lung-busting runs. They take it out of you. He isn’t just buzzing around 60% constantly. He walks, walks, walks, but when he runs, it is so fast and over long distances.
“Playing out wide is a difficult position. Then he is back in again. And as soon as someone gets the ball, he is off again. Again, and again and again. 90th minute, still sprinting at full pelt. His fitness levels. His strength. People talk about his quality of finishing, of course. Absolutely right, but his fitness levels today really impressed me.”
Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool contract
It’s going to expire next summer, alongside Real Madrid-linked Trent Alexander-Arnold and his captain, Virgil van Dijk.
There has been Saudi Arabia interest in Salah and you wonder if they will come knocking on his door in January, when they can sign a pre-contract agreement, or next summer.
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Either way, Liverpool should be doing everything in their power to keep hold of the player because he is a man of immense quality and his consistency levels are ridiculous.
Alexander-Arnold says Salah is the best player he has played with and the duo should be continuing at Anfield next season if Slot wants to really show what he is about.
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