Mohamed Salah has revealed his conversation with Arne Slot at the start of the season, which has led to his stunning output of 33 goals and 23 assists so far.
With 56 goal involvements in 48 games, Salah is one away from equalling his best-ever record, having scored 43 and assisted 14 in 50 appearances in 2017/18.
It is a remarkable contribution given those two seasons are seven years apart and the Egyptian is now 32, but that is partly due to a tweak in how he is used.
Speaking to Sky Sports after Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Tottenham on a title-clinching Sunday, Salah explained an early conversation with Slot.
“I told him ‘as long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively’,” he said.
“Try to rest me as much as I can, then I will show you the numbers. So I’m glad that I did.”
Salah added: “He’s the manager of course, but he listens a lot, so I spoke to him and he bought the idea. You can see the numbers!
“To be fair it’s quite tricky, because when you play in the Premier League you have to defend also your left-back.
“But I spoke to him and told him ‘I can gamble somehow, a little bit here or there, but when we get the ball I’m always free, I can make the difference’.
“I think my number of assists also shows that. It’s not only about goals, it’s also about creating chances and just making a difference for the team.”
Interestingly, per FBref, Salah has attempted more tackles this season (25) than in all but one previous campaign for Liverpool, and won the most (17), including his highest tally for tackles in the defensive third (eight).
He has also touched the ball more touches in the defensive third than ever before (111), despite averaging his second-fewest touches per 90 of any of the last five seasons (45.7).
Clearly, though, the emphasis is on Salah scoring and creating, and he admitted his relief at finding the back of the net on the day Liverpool won the title.
“At half-time I was a little bit frustrated because I had a chance in the first half,” he continued.
“I wanted to win it at Anfield. We met last week when Crystal Palace played Arsenal; I didn’t want to win it there, I just wanted to win it at Anfield.
“[It is] something special, an experience maybe nobody had before. To be able to score in that game and have a good result, incredible.”
Salah has already broken the record for the most goal involvements in a 38-game Premier League season, with 46, but is still on course to beat Alan Shearer and Andy Cole’s record of 47 from the 42-game format – and that is now his target.
“Hopefully I’m going to break it soon,” he said.
“I know I broke the record for 38 games, so now one goal to go or one assist to go, I’ve counted!
“It’s something to push me forward to just keep going and keep working hard, for sure.”
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