Lampard: Why Mohamed Salah failed at Chelsea?

Submitted by content on Mon, 01/22/2018 - 09:54

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has given his opinion on why Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah failed to hit the heights at Stamford Bridge. The Egypt international has taken the Premier League by storm this season, scoring seven goals in his opening 11 matches. Salah has also contributed towards the Reds' Champions League campaign, netting four goals in as many appearances.

Speaking to BT Sport, Lampard explained that Salah did not have an easier passage to the Blues first-team with the likes of Eden Hazard and Oscar ahead of him in the pecking order. The Blues great also included Juan Mata in the list of Blues players, although Salah came in as a like-for-like replacement for the Spaniard in January 2014.

He said, "It wasn’t easy and he was up against the likes of [Eden] Hazard, Oscar and [Juan] Mata was around there in his early days. So it was tough for him to come in then and he probably wasn’t quite ready for it. The good thing for him is he’s gone away and come on leaps and bounds. He’s got confidence and personality now that he maybe didn’t have when he was young. But he always had the speed and the touch. But he’s a completely different player to what he was at Chelsea and it is complete credit to him for that."

Following his initial disappointment in west London, Salah spent separate loan spells with Fiorentina and AS Roma before sealing a permanent move to the latter last year. Salah bagged 34 goals and 18 assists during his two-year stint with the Giallorossi, and his showing convinced Liverpool to spend club-record fee for his services last summer.

Jurgen Klopp has been known for his counter-attacking brand of football at Anfield, and he has made the most of recent transfer windows bringing in the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, who have significantly bolster the attack. Philippe Coutinho had been the main man for the Reds during Klopp's initial season in management, but the pair have reduced some of burden on the Brazilian, who is apparently considering a move to Barcelona.