Rugby

Klopp urges more protection for Salah from referees

Liverpool boss puzzled striker fails to get more decisions and wrong to brand him diver

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was lauded by manager Jürgen Klopp as a player with the ‘right attitude’. File photograph: PA

Richard Jolly
Nick Ames
Tue Mar 15 2022 - 22:00

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has called for Mohamed Salah to receive more protection from referees after saying it is “crazy” how few free-kicks the forward is awarded when fouled.

The Liverpool manager believes it is inexplicable Salah does not get more decisions in his favour and wrong when he is branded a diver.

Although only Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette and Brentford’s Ivan Toney have won more penalties in the Premier League than Salah this season, some 114 players have drawn more fouls than the Egyptian, with officials penalising opponents for only 20 challenges on Salah in 26 matches. On average he is awarded a free-kick every 110 minutes this season, even though he has the fourth-most touches in the final third and the highest number in the 18-yard box.

“It is absolutely crazy how low the number of fouls is against him,” said Klopp. “So he has constant contact [from defenders] and is going down all the time, having to get up again. The statistic is that Mo is the one player who is fouled the least compared to other [top] strikers. Honestly, you have to ask the refs; I don’t know because we constantly think he gets fouled. He gets confronted with the [claim] that someone calls him a diver. That is an absolute shame.

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“We don’t get even close to the number of free-kicks that we should have. You must ask other people how that is possible because he is the guy who is constantly with the ball around the box and there is no foul: interesting. How is that? It is just not possible.”

Salah came off in Saturday’s win at Brighton with a minor foot problem but is fit to face Arsenal on Wednesday night and maintain his record of not missing a game through injury since 2019. Klopp praised him for his determination and durability. “Mo is a tough cookie,” he said. “He is very professional and . . . has the right attitude.”

Victory would put Liverpool one point behind Manchester City, after the leaders were held at Crystal Palace on Monday, with a meeting against Pep Guardiola’s team to come in April. “Win every game, we win the league?” said Klopp. “That’s actually the best news; the only problem is the word ‘if’ is wonderful information. It’s in our hands but it’s still pretty slippery.”

Klopp feels City remain favourites but has vowed to irritate them in their pursuit. “That is the plan, that we keep being as annoying as possible,” he said. “We try to win all of our games . . . Now everything is in front of us: attack it, chase it, go for it.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes there is still a sizeable gap between Arsenal and the Premier League’s title contenders but says the club are finally shaking off years of “feeling sorry for ourselves”.

Should Arteta’s side earn a sixth straight win it would put them four points clear of Manchester United, who are fifth, with two games in hand; they would also move to within five points of Chelsea having played a game fewer, but Arteta cautioned that they remain well short of the standards he wants to set.

“Still far,” he said. “We have to make things quicker, sharper. We can be more adaptable, we can be much more unpredictable, we can have much more flexibility and we can be much more consistent throughout games to maintain that level.

“I think we are much closer than we were, and probably the closest we have been in terms of what we are looking for. But I focus on that gap, and that gap is still big.”

Arsenal progress

It is a mark of Arsenal’s rapid strides, though, that there would not be too many eyebrows raised if they overcame Liverpool. They outplayed Manchester City for long periods on New Year’s Day and the buzz around the Emirates, an intimidating venue for visiting sides this season and one where Arsenal have dropped only 10 points, is palpable. Arteta explained that they have had to change the downtrodden demeanour that had dogged the club in recent years and stop repeating old mistakes.

“I hate that feeling, of feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “Of saying: ‘Oh, this is happening to us again.’ A lot of things happen and when they happen we have to find the reason why it happens . . . We have to change that dynamic completely, look at what we can become and how we are going to do it. If we put all the effort and energy there, the rest will take care of itself.”

Arteta said a win over Liverpool would provide “another click and another boost in confidence” for his team. “Beating Liverpool with the way they are playing today is extremely difficult and we are aware of that,” he continued. “But if we get to the game with the belief and understanding of doing what we can do, the game is there for the taking.”

Takehiro Tomiyasu has an outside chance of returning from his recurring calf injury, but Arteta struck a cautious note on the right back’s involvement. “We have been trying to push him, but with the handbrake a little bit because we need to be careful as we don’t want to get another injury with him,” he said. “We don’t know [if Wednesday is too soon]. Let’s see how he trains”

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