Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has given his verdict on the Mohamed Salah and Luis Suarez debate and there is one clear winner in the Englishman’s opinion.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has given his verdict on choosing between Luis Suarez and Mohamed Salah. Both players have enjoyed prolific spells with Liverpool and put up two of the most prolific individual seasons in Premier League history. Ferdinand prefers one over the other and has chosen Salah as his choice.
The Egyptian has continued his prolific form for Liverpool this season and scored twice in their 5-1 demolition of Porto in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. He is now just one goal behind Steven Gerrard in the club’s all-time Champions League goalscorers list.
Ferdinand believes Salah’s consistency and goalscoring record speaks for itself, making him the clear superior of the two players. While Suarez has impressed, he never quite put up the same numbers as Salah consistently. “I’d take Mo Salah, I think what he’s done in the last four seasons, he’s the top scorer again for Liverpool this season, I think he’s immense.”
Salah’s achievements are all the more praiseworthy because, unlike Suarez, he is not an out and out striker. The Egyptian is largely deployed as a winger or an inside forward but manages to establish himself as Liverpool’s biggest goalscoring threat. “He’s not even doing this playing as a No.9, he’s doing it as a wide striker, he gets all types of goals. He does a bit of everything for me, he takes people on, he can run from deep.”
Suarez made 133 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 82 goals and assisting 47 more. He averaged 0.97 goal contributions per game, an incredible feat given the lack of quality around him in Brendan Rodgers’s side. Salah meanwhile, has made 211 appearances for the Reds, scoring 133 times and assisting 49 more. The Egyptian averages 0.86 goal contributions per game, a number that pales in comparison to Suarez.
However, Salah has managed to impress on the field and step up in clutch moments while not courting controversy. More so, Suarez played as an out and out striker, making him a focal point of the Liverpool attack. This does skew the statistics in his favour.
Ferdinand’s comments hold true, and Salah is a better fit for one’s team than Suarez. The Uruguayan is one of the finest strikers of his generation and would be an excellent addition. However, unlike him, Salah has led Liverpool to titles while also continuing to maintain his consistency.
Liverpool icon Michael Owen however, disagrees, stating that Suarez is the better choice. He points to the Uruguayan’s 31-goal return in the 2013/14 season to showcase his dominance. Perhaps ironically, Owen’s comments can be used to disprove his point if one considers Salah’s numbers from the 2017/18 campaign.
Ferdinand may be a die-hard Red Devil, but he is spot on with his analysis. Suarez may be a Liverpool icon, but Salah is already establishing himself as a club legend.
