Ange Postecoglou has joked that Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah would struggle if he were in the current Tottenham Hotspur squad, Afrosport reports.
The Egyptian superstar has been a class apart this season, scoring 21 goals and providing 17 assists in 27 competitive games which sees him top the Premier League scorers’ chart while Liverpool are top in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
Spurs meanwhile have had a season of struggles with a host of key players currently out injured which has impacted their form.
Postecoglou believes this reality will make it difficult for Salah to hit his Liverpool form were he to be in North London at the moment.
“Mo [Salah] is a world-class player, but if you put him in our team now I’m not sure he’ll have the same impact because of the situation we’re in as a group,” the former Celtic boss said ahead of the EFL Cup semi-final first leg with Liverpool on Wednesday.
“His attacking play, what do you need? You need a team that’s kind of in good form, creating opportunities, playing on the front foot, having a really solid foundation of a defence that is cohesive. None of these things exist at the moment. We’re relying really on individual moments.”
The Australian tactician added: “Mo [Salah] is an unbelievable player but he is playing in a fantastic team that are flying at the moment.
“I’d hazard to say that if you put Sonny [Heung-min] in Liverpool’s team, I reckon his goalscoring return would be decent. It’s hard for our players at the moment. Guys like [Dominic] Solanke, [Dejan] Kulusevski and [Brennan] Johnson they’re trying awfully hard to be the best they can be.
“But there is context to that, we’re a team that’s very disrupted and is not playing with the fluency it can play. We’re asking players to play in positions that they’re totally unfamiliar with. And that has an affect.”
Semi-final action up next 👊
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Postecoglou went to take responsibility for Tottenham’s mixed results this season but is appreciative of the support he is getting from the club.
“The results are on me. It’s my responsibility to change that. If it doesn’t change then of course I’m the one that should take whatever ramifications there are to it,” he added.
“But I don’t need any more security than seeing what I see every day. Everyone at the club is totally supportive of what we’re trying to do, and they’re trying to help me and trying to help us get through this. And that’s kind of all any manager really needs. I’m not interested in security.”
Tottenham will be bidding to win their first piece of silverware since 2008 when they defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley.
