It amazes me the amount of criticism Mohamed Salah gets from some Liverpool supporters. To be fair, he has missed on some good scoring opportunities. This is true. It is also true that he is Liverpool's leading scorer and has terrorized the opposition thus far this season. The amount of negative attention he gets is illogical, we will evaluate it here.
Even though he leads his club in goals and has already won awards, Salah continues to be the subject of criticism. The talk is that yes he creates chances but he is not clinical and cannot finish so therefore is a waste. One critique of him stated, "Salah is like a speed boat - but with no one at the helm."
This is a player still adjusting to a return to the Premier League and adjusting to his new teammates and new system. Still, in 2 months with Liverpool Salah has won the Liverpool Player of the Month (POTM) award 2 times.
Reading social media, you would forget that this is a player who in his first 8 games scored 6 times for Liverpool. Unfortunately for some "supporters" unless he converts every opportunity he will be criticized. "He just isn't clinical enough", "his finishing according to the chances he has had is poor", "Salah was a major part of not finishing the game off" these are just a few of the comments you will see about Salah.
Is it fair? In a word, NO! Let's start with the fact that yes, Salah has had more chances and has missed on some scoring chances. Critics are quick to point to the fact that Liverpool lack the clinical finisher that other top-6 clubs possess. But what these critics fail to mention is that these "clinical finishers" also miss good scoring chances.
Thus far this season, Salah has 5 "big chances missed." Critics love to point to this and "prove" that Salah just isn't good enough. However, the goal-scoring assassins critics like to mention when they point to Liverpool's lack of class have their fair share of misses as well. As can seen in this table, both Sergio Aguero and Romelu Lukaku have the same number of big misses as Salah. Lukaku is thought of as if not the best finisher in the league, certainly right there with Harry Kane. However, he has missed on just as many big chances as Salah.
Speaking of Harry Kane, he is the other striker pointed to as what Liverpool lack when the Reds struggle to convert on their chances. "If only Liverpool had a Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku".........the critics have said this phrase hundreds of times already. But again, the stats do not back up these claims. Harry Kane has 6 league goals, compared to 4 for Salah.
With all the praise Kane receives (and rightfully so) and the criticism of Salah and Liverpool, you would think Kane has 6 times the number of goals as Salah. This just isn't the case.
But what about the perception that Kane is clinical and Salah struggles to convert his many chances? Again, the criticism is off-base. Kane has 3 "big chances" missed. He also has 20 more shots than Salah. Looking at "conversion rate" which is what Salah is often criticized for, Harry Kane with 6 goals after 44 shots has a conversion of 14%. Salah on the other hand stands at 17% (4 goals with 24 shots). Still, Kane is considered an elite finisher and Salah is thought of as being a chance creator but lacking the skill to finish. Such rubbish!
Another stat looked at is shots on goal. The 3 leaders in "Shots on Target" are Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, and you guessed it, Mo Salah. He is just one shot on target behind Lukaku and 2 behind Kane. And remember, Lukaku has yet to play a team from the top half of the table, where he historically struggles to finish.
Regardless of the stat, Mohamed Salah is right there with the leagues best goal scorers. While he hasn't converted on every scoring chance, the narrative that he isn't clinical enough or lacks the skill to be an elite goal-scorer is complete nonsense. The fact that he compares favorably to the two strikers who are considered the best finishers in the league, especially considering the fact that he is a winger and not a central striker, is a clear indication that Mo Salah is going to be a huge asset to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. Hopefully, the "supporters" who are overly critical will realize his impressive start and instead begin to enjoy the brilliance that is Mohame Salah.