Speaking on the Greatest Game Podcast, Micah Richards has been expressing his opinion on Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Richards of course played with Salah earlier in his career at Fiorentina, and the full-back says that he never expected the Egyptian to become the goalscorer that he is today.
Salah is undoubtedly one of the most potent hitmen in Europe these days, but Richards says that he didn’t think he had the technique to be that type of player.
“I expected him to be, in terms of being a winger to dribble past three or four players easy because I saw that every week. The prime example of that was against Juventus in the Coppa Italian where he pretty much won the game by himself,” Richards said.
“But I didn’t expect him to have, when I see him strike the ball, I didn’t think he had that technique. He used to half-hit it and he didn’t have a clean connection to get this many goals. I didn’t think he’d get this many goals, but I did think he would have the impact because he was doing it every day at training. When Chelsea let him go I couldn’t believe it.”
It just goes to show that you can never underestimate a footballer that is willing to improve.
Salah is one of the best strikers of the ball in the world right now, just look at his goals against Newcastle and Leeds this season as an example, or his long-range effort against Chelsea a couple of years ago.
The winger has surpassed everyone’s expectations, and it seems as though his development into a lethal goalscorer has taken Richards by surprise.
Salah could be about to win his third Premier League Golden Boot, and that’s telling of just how brilliant he is in front of goal.
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