Pep Lijnders has described Mo Salah as a ‘leader’ and has praised the exceptional attitude shown by the Egyptian both on and off the pitch.
The former Roma man has been recognized as one of the best players in the world in recent years with his impressive performances for Liverpool, which saw him break numerous records and win every major trophie possible during his time at Anfield.
The No. 11 is currently away with the Reds squad as they complete warm-weather training and prepare for friendlies against Lyon and AC Milan in Dubai and Jurgen Klopp’s assistant has praised the Egyptian king.
“Look, if you see Mo Salah focused from the first minute of training to the last minute, showing his dribbling skills, his unpredictability, being a leader, talking to the little kids, I can only say that so far so good.” Lijnders told The National.
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Lijnders also shared details about a padel match he recently enjoyed with the former Chelsea player.
The Dutchman was partnered with Klopp as they took on Salah and Thiago Alcántara in the game that is becoming increasingly popular with the team.
“Yesterday I sat with Mo in the car for a long time, together with Thiago and Jurgen, after the padel match that Jurgen and I won against Mo and Thiago, 6-3; if that appears in the egyptian press that would be great. Because he’s been asking to play for months and now that we’ve played, I haven’t heard from him in the last two days,” she added.
“He’s the guy who gets out of his comfort zone. Nothing good happens in the comfort zone and he gets out of it all the time. He came out of Egypt, it was not easy, with many setbacks, and over time and with his character and with his personality, he became a leader in my opinion. He not only a leader on the field but also a leader in the locker room.
“He is a great example to the world, what the world could look like and how he deals with situations. We are very proud that he has re-signed with us, that he is with us, that he is one of our leaders. I always look at him, if he trains like he trains, I always see him training so well”.
It’s great to see this 39-year-old speaking so highly of our star man.
He’s been incredible since joining the club from Roma in 2017 and after signing a huge new contract in the summer, it seems he still has the same hunger and will to succeed on Merseyside.
So far this season, the 30-year-old has contributed 19 goals in 21 appearances (in all competitions) and will be eager to help the team further up the table fire up during the second half of the campaign.
He’ll also have half an eye on our Champions League round of 16 tie with Real Madrid, as we owe the Spaniards one after losing two of our last three finals in the competition to them.
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