Liverpool: Mohamed Salah deservedly named Standard Chartered’s Player of the Month

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been named Standard Chartered’s player of the month for February, just days after being named the PFA Premier League player of the month; this is now the third time he’s received that honor.   

A sensational February

In February, Salah scored 5 goals and provided 2 assists from 4 appearances across all competitions, guiding Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and keeping a tight race for 2nd place in the Premier League with rivals Manchester United.

Two goals in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham, a goal and an assist to Roberto Firmino vs. Southampton, a goal against FC Porto in leg 1, and a goal and an assist vs. West Ham at Anfield rounded out Salah’s month; one of the most prolific spans he’s had all season.

Only November saw Salah produce more goals (8), but he played in a total of 6 matches that month. In the month of February, Liverpool have impressively outscored their opponents by 13 goals to 3.  Without Salah in the squad, that differential would’ve been reduced to 6 goals to 3; taking into account his goals and assists.

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Case in point, Liverpool more than likely would have not picked up nearly as many points in February had it not been for their star Egyptian and could very well be sitting in 4th place as opposed to only 2 points behind 2nd place.

A win from this weekend’s match at Old Trafford could see Liverpool leapfrog their rivals into 2nd place and further increase the advantage in goal difference they have over United.

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No shortage of praise from Jurgen Klopp

Speaking after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Newcastle United last weekend (via ESPN), Jurgen Klopp insisted that he feels Salah is more than deserving of being named the PFA’s player of the year at the end of the season:

"I really love this player. He’s doing so well and thank God he’s still healthy and fit. He deserves all the good critics he got so far and we have to make sure he can carry on. It’s a different position, but it depends on what you want to have. There’s no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne plays a nice season, to be honest. And there’s no doubt that Mo Salah plays a really good one as well. That’s how it is."

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Salah, he believes, can beat out some of the league’s other top contenders for the honor:

"There are a few good players. I think a few people would mention that Harry Kane is not too bad, Roberto Firmino is not too bad, David Silva.  If he can win this competition then he really deserves it. There are a few games to go and we have to make sure that he can keep on going in this shape and be in important spaces and decisive areas and score goals for us."

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An added bonus for Salah

In addition to claiming the Standard Chartered and PFA accolades, Salah was also named Europe’s best player in February by Switzerland-based football observatory CIES, using technical statistics from every match in the time span.

Salah ranked higher than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, with an average rating of 98.7 and has a current estimated transfer value of €162.8m; a substantially higher fee than the Liverpool £37.80m paid for him.