Egypt boss Hossam Hassan has given his thoughts on Mohamed Salah’s situation with the Liverpool forward set to kick off his Africa Cup of Nations journey on Monday evening
Egypt boss Hossam Hassan believes Mohamed Salah always returns to Liverpool stronger after spending time withhis national team, while dismissing any talk of a “crisis” surrounding the star. It comes as the winger has joined up with his fellow countrymen for the start of their Africa Cup of Nations campaign.
Just a few weeks before, Salah dropped a bombshell interview with reporters where he claimed that he felt the club had thrown him under the bus, after being dropped for three games in a row. There was also uncertainty as to whether he would play for Liverpool again after AFCON, with Arne Slot unable to shed any light on the situation.
Now that he’s joined up with the Egypt squad, his manager, Hassan, gave his thoughts on the situation as he told the press: “Whenever Salah’s performances dip with his club, he regains his strength with the national team and becomes even better, whether by contributing goals or scoring himself. Then he returns to his club even stronger.
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“Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team, and I believe he will have a great tournament with his country I feel his motivation is very, very strong. Salah is an icon and will remain so. He is one of the best players in the world, and I support him in everything he does.
“I don’t consider what happened to him to be a crisis. These things often happen between players and coaches.
“We’ve been in contact with him by phone from the beginning, and I met with him when he joined the national team camp. His focus is entirely on the tournament.”
The suggestion that Salah returns stronger after being with his national team could well be a bold prediction that he may well do the same when he returns from international duty to join up with Liverpool once again. The forward kicks off his AFCON journey with Egypt on Monday night – 8pm GMT – with a clash against Zimbabwe, where it remains to be seen if he is back in the first team from the start.
The 33-year-old may feel as though he has something to prove in the competition, having previously got so close, yet so far, to lifting the ultimate prize at the end.
The motivation may be even greater after Jamie Carragher’s scathing assessment on the Liverpool ace on Sky Sports shortly after his interview, where he said: “One thing I just want to sort of remind Mo Salah and maybe his agent is that before he came to Liverpool, Mo Salah was known as the guy who failed at Chelsea.
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“That’s just a fact. He’d never won a major trophy before he came to Liverpool. He’s also the greatest player his country have ever had. Egypt, in the Africa Cup of Nations, are the most successful nation. He’s going there in a couple of weeks. Mo Salah’s never won the AFCON.
“That is not me trying to put Mo Salah down as a player. I’ve just said he’s one of the best players in the world in the last eight years, very few better. But what it tells Mo Salah and his agent is, it’s not about an individual.
“You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool. You haven’t really won anything with Egypt. All that’s telling you is, no matter how good a player you are, you need help from your team-mates, your manager and fans.”
Now Salah has an opportunity to win with Egypt, perhaps getting the last laugh over Carragher in the process, given their prickly exchanges in recent weeks.
The next few weeks will see whether he can do that, with the Zimbabwe clash followed up by two other group matches, against South Africa and Angola.
