Why Mohamed Salah Is Still the Premier League’s Ultimate Nightmare | OneFootball

Salah’s Silent Brilliance: Why Premier League Defenders Still Fear Him

Enduring Excellence

There’s a quiet dread that spreads through a dressing room when a team sees Mohamed Salah’s name on the teamsheet. Even now, at 32, with his trophy cabinet bursting and his reputation cast in bronze, Salah remains the forward that defenders most hope to avoid. As Gregg Evans masterfully lays out in The Athletic, this is not simply a tribute to longevity — it is a testament to evolution.

Salah has played every Premier League game this season, scored 30 goals, assisted more than anyone else, and captured the Football Writers’ Association player-of-the-year award. And now, at long last, he adds The Athletic’s men’s player of the year to his resume. As Evans notes, Salah is “Liverpool’s evergreen creative machine,” and this season has perhaps been the clearest demonstration yet of his complete forward play.

Facing Salah: A Defender’s Dilemma

“I was just hoping he didn’t play,” said former FC Sion goalkeeper Andris Vanins — a sentiment echoed repeatedly throughout Evans’ report. What unites Premier League opponents past and present is not merely fear, but helplessness. “You have to be 100 per cent concentrated,” Fulham’s Calvin Bassey explains, “just try to aggravate him.”

This is not an enigma built on mystique. Salah is a calculated menace — fast, strong, and endlessly direct. Liam Cooper, who has suffered Salah’s brilliance on more than one occasion, summed it up best: “They’re so difficult to prepare for because even when you think you’ve done it, he produces something special.”

His movement off the ball is as devastating as his final touch. Milos Kerkez, a potential Liverpool target, confessed, “He’s the best player right now, isn’t he?” And Evans captures how Salah’s trajectory — from raw finisher to composed predator — makes his success all the more extraordinary. Once a winger who needed five chances to score two goals, Salah now needs just one.

Mental Steel and Monastic Preparation

There’s poetry in Salah’s method — a monk-like routine of prayer, visualisation, gym work, and relentless self-improvement. As ex-Liverpool defender Ragnar Klavan recalls, “He had a straightforward thinking that he wants to be the greatest.” That mindset, more than his muscles or pace, terrifies his peers.

Salah’s physicality remains underrated. “People think he is small,” Kerkez admitted, “but he’s really tough to play against because of this.” His time in Italy taught him how to build his body as well as his game — and the results are visible every week.

Legacy Still Unfolding

Perhaps the most remarkable note is that Salah is not winding down. With a new contract keeping him at Anfield until 2027, defenders must still contend with a player whose hunger has not dimmed. “What I see is a top professional,” said Arne Slot earlier this year, “he has found the balance to get the best out of himself.”

The story Gregg Evans tells is not one of a player clinging to his prime. It is of an athlete who redefined it.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

For Liverpool supporters, this piece from Gregg Evans simply reaffirms what they’ve known all along: Mohamed Salah isn’t just a great Liverpool player — he is the Liverpool player of the modern era.

The quotes are striking, but not surprising. To hear rival professionals openly concede their fear, frustration, and admiration only adds to the legend. When players like Calvin Bassey and Liam Cooper admit they can’t figure him out, it makes Salah’s brilliance all the more satisfying to witness.

There’s something about Salah’s evolution that mirrors Liverpool’s success. The quiet steel, the consistency, the refusal to yield to time or circumstance — these are traits fans admire. His faith and professionalism are often discussed in passing, but they underpin every moment of magic at Anfield.

What stands out most is his physical and mental dominance. At 32, he’s still faster, stronger and sharper than most defenders 10 years younger.

His story is already etched into Liverpool’s history, but with two more seasons (at least) ahead, there’s a growing sense among fans that the best might not even be behind him.