After enjoying a remarkable start to the 2021/22 season, 2022 was supposed to be Mohamed Salah’s year. The Egyptian had scored an incredible 15 goals from his first 12 outings of the campaign, culminating with an historic hat-trick away at Manchester United, and was the early favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.
Naturally the forward couldn’t quite keep up such superhuman scoring returns, finishing 2021 with 22 goals from 25 games, but there was still no reason to believe that 2022 couldn’t be his best year yet. After all, as well as Liverpool ’s domestic and European pursuits, he had an Africa Cup of Nations to look forward to and World Cup qualification to secure.
Alas, by his own high standards that he has continued to set ever since joining the Reds in the summer of 2017, 2022 hasn’t lived up to the forward’s sky-high expectations.
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The first disappointment came in the Africa Cup of Nations as the 30-year-old’s Egypt lost on penalties to Sadio Mane ’s Senegal in the final, and he was left unable to take a penalty in the shootout with defeat already confirmed before it was his turn to step up. The following month they would lose to the Teranga Lions on penalties again, with Salah this time missing in the shootout, as they missed out on a place in the 2022 World Cup as a result.
In the past he’d at least occasionally have to share centre stage with Mane, now he was being outshone on it. This would remain the case back at Anfield as the Senegalese scored the goals to fire Klopp’s side to quadruple contention before departing for pastures new at Bayern Munich.
Having started the year dreaming of being a champion of Africa and longing to finish it competing on the highest stage at the peak of his powers in Qatar, in an attempt to make up for his injury-inflicted Russia 2018 disappointment in the process, this was already proving to not be the year Salah had envisaged.
Sure he’d win the League Cup with Liverpool in between his two international disappointments but the goals had dried up back at Anfield as he returned just six, with only three coming from open play, in the opening three months of the year. He’d score just an additional three during the rest of the season as the once runaway leader from the Premier League Golden Boot was left forced to settle sharing the prize with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min
Further silverware would at least follow courtesy of the FA Cup come May, yet Salah was forced off after just half an hour in the final through injury, leaving him as a doubt for the Champions League final in the process as the Reds’ dreamed of delivering an unprecedented quadruple.
Returning as a substitute on the final day of the Premier League season, the Egyptian would fire his side ahead late on against Wolves and at the time believed he’d scored the goal that would snatch the title away from Man City. Alas, such a fantasy was swiftly cut short as supporters’ reaction revealed Pep Guardiola’s side had recovered from 2-0 down against Aston Villa to win the match and the title by a point.
A rematch with Real Madrid next awaited in Paris, the very side who had inflicted disappointment on Salah when he was first within touching distance of winning the Champions League and starring at the World Cup four years earlier. Later Vinicius Junior’s solitary strike consigned him to yet another final disappointment.
Of course there were reasons aplenty for the 30-year-old’s loss of form during the first half of 2022. Fatigue from playing far too much football for club and country, a hangover from his international disappointments or maybe just distracted by the uncertainty regarding his future with his Liverpool contract then due to expire in 2023.
At least a new deal was agreed in July 2022, making Salah the highest paid player in the Reds’ history and extending his stay with the club until at least 2025. But despite that show of commitment, monkeys remain on the forward’s back.
Goals have returned with him netting eight times from his first 13 appearances of the 2022/23 season, while he started the season by scoring in a Community Shield win over Man City, yet such figures are enhanced by his midweek hat-trick off the bench away at Rangers. As impressive as that one 7-1 victory at Ibrox was, Liverpool’s form for the opening months of the season has been miserable and resulted in Klopp already ruling them out of Premier League title contention.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland’s impeccable start to life at Man City, scoring an astonishing 20 goals from his first 13 appearances, has dwarfed Salah’s own astonishing run in front of goal from 12 months ago and left him chasing shadows in the race for the Golden Boot. With only two of his goals coming in the Premier League this year, at least the forward’s own fortunes in 2022 show the Norwegian can’t keep this up forever.
While their five rival ‘big six’ clubs currently occupy the top five, Liverpool sit down in tenth in the table, six points off the top four, 13 points behind reigning champions Man City and trailing league-leaders Arsenal by 14 points. If Guardiola’s men win at Anfield on Sunday, the Reds’ reality will get even worse.
Once the favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or, now Salah isn’t even really in the conversation as Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema looks to get his hands on the famous trophy at Monday’s ceremony. In truth, Liverpool’s start to the season in line with Egypt’s failure to qualify for the World Cup make the 30-year-old highly unlikely to succeed the Frenchman in 2023 either with a Champions League victory the only prize now that stands a chance of rescuing his already extinguished hopes.
2022 has been a year of sliding door moments for Salah and so many of them have gone wrong. What if he’d won the Africa Cup of Nations? What if he scored his penalty and sent Egypt to the World Cup? What if he hadn’t been forced off injured against Chelsea in the FA Cup final? What if his goal against Wolves had actually won the Premier League title? What if he’d been able to enact revenge on Real Madrid and be crowned a European champion once again?
If the goals hadn’t dried up, maybe his year wouldn’t have turned out this way and a reigning English, European and African champion would remain the favourite for the Ballon d’Or and be finishing 2022 in Qatar at the World Cup rather than in Dubai on a mid-season training camp.
In truth, Salah’s return of 17 from 39 appearances for Liverpool in 2022 so far is respectable. But respectable is still a drop-off from extraordinary, with it only a year ago when the Egyptian seemed destined to break his own incredible goalscoring records.
Instead, he didn’t even get close and now it is Haaland who looks certain to break Salah’s record-breaking returns from 2017/18 while lifting the biggest honours at club-level too. Sure, the Norwegian will also be limited to spectator duty at the 2022 World Cup, but if he keeps up his form he’ll certainly be in Ballon d’Or contention next year.
But as the forwards prepare to go head-to-head at Anfield on Sunday, Salah can send out a fresh reminder of his talents as he looks to fire both his own and Liverpool’s campaign into life and steal Haaland and Man City’s thunder.
2022 hasn’t been his year and, at this rate, 2023 won’t be either for a player who thrives to win the Ballon d’Or. Yet he had the world at his feet the last time he left the pitch with a match ball under his arm after his OId Trafford hat-trick 12 months ago.
Scoring his first treble since that Manchester United thrashing against Rangers on Wednesday, with it being the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history too for good measure, Liverpool will hope it proves to be the spark that relights Salah’s fire.
Now back on centre stage against Man City with the whole world watching, the Egyptian and the Reds are at a defining sliding door for their hopes and dreams once again. Beat Guardiola’s side and their season can belatedly start here. Lose, and their campaign really has burnt down.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the decline, the stage was Salah's to achieve eternal glory. Instead he has missed out, with the likes of Haaland signalling the impending start of a next generation domination. As a result, the Egyptian is left stuck between two eras, watching on as the likes of Benzema step up where he has failed.
Not in the Ballon d’Or conversation for Monday, if such a plight continues for both player and club, it’s only a matter of time before talk that they have already enjoyed their peak and that their best days are now firmly behind them will arise.
2022 should have been the forward's career-defining year. Instead, it has been one to forget in some respects. In between two hat-tricks, who could have foreseen that when he downed Manchester United in spectacular fashion 12 months ago?
He was on the verge of greatness, but the Ballon d'Or has now long since slipped through his fingers and he may wonder whether he has himself to blame after falling just short when the stakes were at their highest. What a difference a year makes.
But is it just a blip? Can Salah use such disappointment to fuel the most glorious Indian summer, land the individual prize he craves most and belatedly follow in Benzema's footsteps? Now the wrong side of 30, it's a brand new challenge for him in the face of natural decline, but one the likes of the Frenchman, Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric, Ronaldo and Messi have all risen to.
It’s now up to Liverpool’s Egyptian King to ensure that reports of a demise have been greatly exaggerated and his legacy isn't harshly left as just one of a footballing bridesmaid when it comes to comparisons with other elite talents. Against Man City at Anfield, with Haaland looking to grab his headlines, there’s no better time to set the record straight.
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