Mohamed Salah has a chance to slap Chelsea in the face
After a terrible short stint at Stamford Bridge, Mohamed Salah has reinvented himself. This weekend, he gets the chance to slap the Blues in the face.
Mohamed Salah’s first sojourn in the Premier League was a forgettable one. He came to Stamford Bridge in January 2014 shortly after destroying the Blues in a Champions League game. However, the first five months of his Chelsea stay were comically bad. Soon enough, he was fed into the loan machine before being sold. Now, he’s back and he’s taking the top flight by storm.
Salah’s arrival was greeted with excitement. The Egyptian was a fantastic talent who had proven himself on a big stage. Jose Mourinho evidently felt that he was the person to elevate the Blues to that next level.
Instead, for the rest of that 2013/14 campaign, he was largely limited to substitute appearances. He then made just 8 competitive appearances in the following campaign before being loaned out in winter.
Many players would have been seen their careers spiral further downhill after such an ordeal. Salah did the opposite. He got back to his attacking ways in Italy, reminding everyone just how talented he is.
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His reinvention resulted in Jurgen Klopp spending over €40 million on him this past summer. The deal was met with some laughter from Blues fans. Salah, though, has ensured that he has seized this opportunity to prove himself in the Premier League.
For those wondering why he couldn’t produce the goods for the Blues, Eden Hazard has an appropriate answer.
"He did not get his chance at Chelsea maybe because of the manager, because of the other players? I don’t know. He has quality but in that period I remember we had me, Willian, Oscar, so for him it was not easy. – via Sky Sports"
Saturday’s game will be Salah’s first game against the Blues since he left. This will be a chance to show Chelsea what they missed. While the Egyptian did not impress in his cameo appearances, he was rarely given 90 minutes to strut his stuff.
At Anfield, he will have 90 minutes to stick it to the Blues. Salah has been a game-winner for Liverpool this season and has already broken records held by legendary figures like Robbie Fowler.
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Antonio Conte will have to meticulously plan for threats from Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino. However, he may have to draw up a wholly different set for Salah. The winger is at the top of his game and will have extra motivation to steal the show.