Garth Crooks has claimed Mohamed Salah was “the popular vote, but not the right one” after the Liverpool superstar won the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Award.
Salah won the gong for the second time, after receiving 48 per cent of the vote, beating Kevin De Bruyne and Declan Rice, with the Man City and West Ham stars finishing second and third respectively.
The Egyptian has enjoyed another prolific season and has 30 goals in all competitions as the Reds go in search of an unprecedented quadruple. His 22 Premier League strikes also have him in pole position to win the Golden Boot for the third time in five seasons.
But BBC pundit Crooks believes Salah’s Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk actually deserved the award following his remarkable return from injury. The Dutchman missed almost the entirety of last season with a serious knee injury, but has instantly rediscovered his best form, with Jurgen Klopp’s side conceding just 22 times in 34 league games.
Van Dijk’s absence last term was a major factor in Liverpool enduring one of their more disappointing campaigns in recent years and his impact at Anfield is clear for all to see.
And Crooks thinks those performances should have ended with him lifting the award, rather than his free scoring colleague.
“It's not often I disagree with the choice of the esteemed Football Writers' Association but I was rather taken aback by their decision to award Mohamed Salah this year's honour of Footballer of the Year,” he wrote in his BBC Sport column.
The former Tottenham forward described Van Dijk as Liverpool’s best player and added: “He should have won the award. Regular readers will not be surprised by my choice as the Liverpool defender features in my team almost on a weekly basis. That's because Van Dijk is unquestionably the best defender in the world but he does not attract the same attention as Salah because it's the Egyptian who scores the goals.
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“I appreciate goal scorers better than anyone - my team of the week is often full of them. However this year the Football Writers' Association has gone for the popular vote but not the right one. Salah will be relied upon for more goals on Tuesday night as Liverpool look to book their place in the Champions League final at the expense of Villarreal.
But for all of his heroics, Crooks stated that it was Van Dijk who will be the difference between achieving European glory and falling short: “Salah is very capable of winning the Champions League title for Liverpool but he will need Van Dijk to be in the team.”
City boss Pep Guardiola offered a somewhat prickly response to Salah winning the award, telling reporters none of his players were in contention and when pressed, added: "He won it before - congrats to Salah. Jurgen says they have the best keeper, defender, midfielder, strikers so it’s normal for them to win the award!"
