Leading sports TV network, SuperSport’s pick for the November 2018 Player of the Month is Liverpool and Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah.
Salah who has shrugged off his sluggish start this season is back to his signature show-stopping play manship.
Salah helped Liverpool secure a 3-0 away win over Watford, which kept them in touch with Premier League pacesetters Manchester City. The 26-year-old opened the scoring at Vicarage Road to pave the way for an emphatic Reds victory, which also featured goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Roberto Firmino.
The Egyptian was thrown under the bus by critics for a solid but unspectacular start to the 2018/19 season.
However, things have been looking up for him since the middle of October. The winger has scored eight goals and provided two assists for club and country and also managed to become the fastest player to ever reach the 50-goal mark for Liverpool.
Additionally, Salah has been shortlisted for the prestigious BBC African Footballer of the Year award which he is widely expected to win for a second successive time.
Salah’s combination of strong performances and his humble, down-to-earth demeanour have earned him praise from his fellow professionals. Brighton & Hove Albion’s Cameroonian defender Gaetan Bong believes even if Salah is not scoring, his attacking contribution is always a positive one.
“He has everything, he’s top scorer,” Bong told BBC Sports. “He is a good player and good on the ball, strong and always working hard. You might not see it sometimes but when you are on the pitch, he is making a lot of runs, a lot of strong runs.”
Veteran Ivorian attacker Gervinho (who was a candidate for this Player of the Month after becoming the top-scoring African in the Serie A this season) was a teammate of Salah’s at Italian giants Roma and believes the hard work the Egyptian puts in at the gym underscores his on-pitch brilliance.
“Salah is a tough guy,” the Parma attacker told the Guardian. “Always calm and strong, with the mentality of a hard worker.
“I’ll never forget his training sessions: very high rhythm, pushed like a madman, you watched him in amazement. He had a sort of positive effect – you saw Salah and wanted to work harder. Talent and sacrifice.”
As does October’s Player of the Month, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose goal helped Arsenal beat Bournemouth this past weekend brought him level with Man City’s Sergio Aguero at the top of the Premier League scoring chart, while Riyad Mahrez (Man City), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli) and Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid) have also impressed.
