Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah still has the body of a young player even as the Egyptian grows wiser with experience.
Salah came off the bench to get Liverpool’s final goal in Thursday night’s 5-1 Europa League win over Toulouse, his 43rd European goal for the club – breaking surpassing Thierry Henry’s tally of 42 for Arsenal as the most scored by any Premier League player for a single club in continental competition.
It came after the 31-year-old got both goals in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton, which meant that Salah has now scored or assisted in each of his last 13 Premier League games at Anfield.
Salah will aim to extend that run when Nottingham Forest visit on Sunday and Klopp is enjoying the spectacle of a maturing player with a more-rounded game, yet one who still has the physical attributes to match anyone.
“Off the pitch he behaves like a grown-up man but besides that he’s still a young player,” Klopp said. “He’s so fit. I think if we scan him the majority of the bones are probably 19 or 20 (years old) because he just keeps in such good shape.
“(He has) game understanding. That’s what we try to give young players. They all know an awful lot about football when they finish their career at 35 but the earlier you can get this information the more useful it is.
“And with Mo he understands the spaces much better, he knows how players react on him and if he cannot score he can still be a threat for us and that’s super important… I cannot compare Mo to other 30-odd-year-old players because I don’t think biologically he is.”
Klopp admitted he had no idea that Salah had surpassed Henry’s European tally but, given the number of records the Egyptian has broken during his time at Anfield, it is not easy to keep up.
“Maybe he would have broken a few more records if I would be more into that because sometimes I left him out when he could have broken a record,” Klopp said. “It wasn’t intentional but I’m not too much into this.
“He broke a record (against Toulouse) but if not he would have broken it in two weeks or three that’s clear. He’s just such a good player.
“We appreciate him and we will appreciate him even more after his career when we realise we saw something really special.”
Klopp had made eight changes from the Merseyside derby for the visit of Toulouse, but will reverse most if not all of them on Sunday when Forest head to Anfield.
Liverpool go into the weekend three points off the top of the Premier League table and aiming to show they can balance a Europa League campaign with a title challenge at home.
“So far we could do it,” he said. “Thursday-Sunday is not great but it’s something we know really for long enough and that’s fine.
“The boys that didn’t play (against Toulouse) will have a proper training session so that’s good.
“If you play always the same team like we did in the past in the Champions League then it’s no training at all, it’s just recovery and then go again but so far we are able to do it like this with not too many injuries.
“A lot of the players who didn’t play will probably start on Sunday so for them they had if you want a day off, just warming up and kicking a few balls. (On Friday) we will have a proper session to prepare for Nottingham.
“This rhythm is the rhythm we have this year. We should get used to it sooner rather than later.”
Tadic tips 'hungry' Bellingham to 'win next Ballon d'Or'
Jude Bellingham "has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or", Serbia skipper Dusan Tadic insisted after his side fell victim to England's star midfielder.
Bellingham was the hero with his first-half header ensuring Gareth Southgate's side got off to a winning start at Euro 2024, as they edged out the Eagles 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen.
The Real Madrid midfielder built on the momentum from his memorable debut season with Los Blancos, for whom he scored 23 goals and helped win LaLiga and the Champions League.
The second player after Michael Owen to score at the World Cup and European Championship before turning 21, he is also the first to do so for the Three Lions while playing his club football outside of England.
And Tadic, who appeared as a second-half substitute in Serbia's first match at the European Championship as a unified nation, paid tribute to the 20-year-old.
When asked whether he thought Bellingham was the difference in the Group C contest, the Eagles skipper told reporters: "Yes, definitely. I think he is a great player and a great personality. I think he has everything to win the next Ballon d'Or.
"I think everything that he did was great today, he showed personality, he took England to the next level. He was always asking for the ball and I think he had a great game.
"What I think is most important for such a young player is that he always takes responsibility. That is amazing to see, and you can see he is very hungry."
Scriptwriter Bellingham thrills England boss Southgate
Gareth Southgate said Jude Bellingham "writes his own scripts" after the England star sealed a 1-0 win for the Three Lions over Serbia.
The Real Madrid midfielder was on target in Gelsenkirchen to take his international tally to four goals, becoming just the second player to score at both the World Cup and Euros before the age of 21 in the process.
Bellingham timed his run into the penalty area to perfection to head Bukayo Saka's cross beyond Predrag Rajkovic, and put on yet another mature display way beyond his years.
"I mean he writes his own scripts doesn't he," Southgate told BBC Sport.
"The timing of his runs, it was a super bit of play in the build-up to the goal as well, and I thought at different moments all of our forward players looked dangerous."
Southgate maintained his record of winning the opening in all four of the major tournaments that he has been in the England dugout, with only Alf Ramsey having a better win rate at international competitions.
England dominated the first half, but were forced to grind out the victory against a revitalised Serbia side following the interval.
Southgate feels the way in which the game played out was good for his team heading into the encounter with Denmark on Thursday, though.
"That's the reality of tournaments," said Southgate when asked if the victory was tougher than he was expecting.
"They are a strong team, and we had to suffer a bit which I think is really good for us to come through and defend out box the way we did was important for the group.
"We obviously had good chances to extend our lead and to kill the game which we didn't manage to take, so I was really pleased with a lot of the play, especially the first half."
England were limited to just five shots throughout the contest, with Harry Kane coming closest in the second half as he saw his header brilliantly tipped onto the crossbar by Rajkovic.
Southgate referenced the difficulty of playing against Serbia's compact defensive rearguard, but was confident his forward line will be firing on all cylinders in the fixtures that follow.
"Today was just the finishing and a good save from the goalkeeper with the header towards the end. But that will come," he added.
"I am confident that we will score goals. We were playing against a back five which is not easy to create chances but we did and in the end, one was enough.
"I liked the fact that we had to suffer a bit without the ball because I think that is an area we have worked on a lot this week, and we were obviously so much better than we were last week in doing that."
Ten Hag reveals Man Utd future was settled 'on holiday in Ibiza'
Erik ten Hag revealed his Manchester United future was settled whilst on holiday in Ibiza, though he is yet to agree a contract extension at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman's future with the Red Devils was in doubt following a disappointing 2023-24 season, in which they recorded their lowest Premier League finish of eighth.
Although Ten Hag, who has a year remaining on his existing contract, did lead United to FA Cup glory following a 2-1 victory over rivals Manchester City in the final at Wembley.
The club's new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe reportedly spoke to several candidates to potentially replace the Dutchman, including former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel.
Ten Hag confirmed this, before United officials visited him to confirm he would remain in charge, and they would extend his stay at Old Trafford.
"The club management came to me while I was on holiday in Ibiza," he told Dutch TV channel NOS. "They suddenly showed up on my doorstep and told me they wanted to continue with me."
"Ineos took their time. They are new to football; it's normal to reflect on the season. It's no secret that they talked with multiple candidates.
"In the Netherlands, that is not done. You are not even allowed to talk to another club if there is a current manager there. But in England, the rules and laws are different.
"Manchester United have told me that they spoke with Tuchel, but they eventually came to the conclusion that they already have the best manager.
"We had a good discussion and various topics were discussed. One of the conclusions is that we will extend the contract, but we still have to reach an agreement."
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