08/10/2025

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | OCT 8, 2025

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‘Egyptian King’

under fire

M OHAMED SALAH is Liverpool’s “Egyptian King”, but the forward’s crown has lost a little of its lustre during a disappointing spell in which his work ethic has come under fire. Salah was below his best again in Liverpool’s damaging 2-1 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday as he wasted several chances and failed to help out in defence. He has been absent from the scoresheet in five of Liverpool’s seven Premier League games this season and the champions have suffered as a result. The loss at Stamford Bridge was Liverpool’s third in eight days as Arsenal leapfrogged them to the top of the table. Salah has scored just three goals and provided three assists in nine appearances in all competitions this season. Even more alarming than Salah’s statistics, mediocre by his stellar stan dards, was the sight of the 33-year-old taking little interest when Liverpool were under seige against Chelsea. Without any protection from the forward, Liverpool right-back Conor Bradley was hauled off at half-time after earning a booking as he strug gled to keep Chelsea at bay. The killer ball for Estevao Willian’s stoppage-time winner came from Salah’s right flank, with Marc Cucurella advancing unchecked to set up the Brazilian’s goal. Cucurella revealed Chelsea man Isak says ‘working hard to get back to best form’ ALEXANDER ISAK (pic) has admitted he is still building towards 100% fitness after his second Premier League start for Liverpool also ended in defeat in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Chelsea. Isak sealed a £125 million (RM725m) switch from Newcastle United on dead line day (Sept 1) after missing out on a proper pre-season at St James’Park due to refusing to train or play for the Magpies. Following an injury that ruled him out of Newcastle’s Far East tour in July, Isak trained with former club Real Sociedad without the Magpies’ management’s con sent. He was made to train in isolation upon his return to Tyneside. Since joining Liverpool, the 26-year old has been following a specific fitness regime devised by Arne Slot and his con ditioning team at the AXA Training Centre. The Reds’ manager recently acknowl edged that the No. 9 won’t be considered completely match-ready until after the October international break. Isak played a part in Liverpool’s equal iser at Stamford Bridge, setting up Cody Gakpo’s leveller with a clever touch, and reflecting on his 74-minute outing in the capital, the striker commented: “I feel good. “I’ve been working hard to get back to my best and I’m still working to get to my best form. It was good to play out there again.

he’s watching,” he said on the BBC’s Wayne Rooney Show . “When it’s going well and you are scoring goals, the team will put up with that. But over the last week I’d question his work ethic. “Those leaders in that dressing room should be telling him ‘You need to help out.’ He’s looked a little bit lost over the last week.” Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy agrees with Rooney. “It feels like Salah’s lack of defen sive work has become a little problem for Liverpool, especially against the better teams,” he said. Slot must solve the issue if Liverpool are to emerge from their malaise. Intriguingly, he left Salah on the bench for the first hour of the Champions League defeat at Galatasaray last week, while conced ing that decision might have led to his lack of sharpness against Chelsea. “That’s interesting. Did he create so much because he didn’t play dur ing the week or did he miss the chances because he missed a bit of sharpness that he could have had if he would played against Galatasaray? We will never know,” the Dutchman said. For now, Slot is preaching patience as he looks to get Salah back on track. “It’s not like every chance he gets is always a goal,” Slot said. “We feel sometimes it is, because of what he has done so many times. But yeah he is a human being.” – AFP

3-1 win against Southampton in March, Salah’s influence has waned. He netted just twice in his last 11 games in all competitions, with Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain during his power out age.

Salah’s lethargic display against Chelsea highlights growing concern as influence wanes

After Liverpool clinched the title, Salah boasted he had convinced Reds boss Arne Slot to let him con centrate on scoring and creating at the expense of defending.

ager Enzo Maresca told them exploit the defen sive space vacated by Salah. “We know that Salah is always ready for the counter-attack so we practised that and the manager said that the space might be there,” he said. S a l a h ’ s lethargic display was in keeping with a major dip in form since the closing stages of last season. He scored 29 goals in 38 league matches, earning the Premier League Golden Boot as Liverpool powered to a record-equal ling 20th English title.

“I told him as long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offen sively. I will show you the numbers. So I’m glad that I did,” he said. But giving Salah so much free dom is starting

to as opponents expose the gaping holes left by that backfire

plan. Former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney has joined the growing chorus of disapproval over Salah’s work rate. “We know he doesn’t always get back and defend as much. But in the Chelsea game his full back is getting torn apart and

Mohamed Salah

But after scoring twice in a

Sesko’s exciting vow ahead of Liverpool clash

MANCHESTER UNITED centre-for ward Benjamin Sesko has vowed to “come to this level soon” after scor ing for the club for the second time against Sunderland. The Slovenian striker scored the second goal in a 2-0 victory over the Black Cats at Old Trafford. Sesko was quick off the mark, poking home a goal at the Stretford End in the

31st minute, extending United’s lead after Mason Mount’s opening goal. His celebration saw him leaping into the air, and he expressed his joy during a post-match interview with MUTV as he pledged to keep improving. “It feels amaz ing,” he said. “It feels even better because I helped the team win the game. Because in the end, it’s important to win the match. I try to help the team as much as possible.” “The atmosphere afterwards (following the second goal) was unbelievable. It’s something I’ve been dream ing about – jumping high in the stadium like that. My dream came true. “It’s my job to try to score as many goals as possible, try to win the game, try to help the team in every sin gle situation and hopefully I get more moments like this.”

“I was hoping for a different

result but we’ll keep work ing. I’m very excited for the whole season ahead. “Game by game we have to improve of course if we want to achieve the

When asked if fans have seen the best of him yet, Sesko responded: “No, not yet. There’s loads to come. “I’m still getting used to it more and more to read the players, to be con nected with them even more. I believe I can be even better and I will try to show that.” Discussing the contrast between the

things we want to. But yeah, really excited (for the Manchester United game). “I think we started off pretty badly and we worked our way into the game pretty well. “We came out second half and really gave everything to get a result. In the end, it’s obviously tough conceding in the last minute like that. “We were speaking (about) details in our press and also on the ball, the spaces to find to be able to hurt them. “I think we created chances, enough to score and it just wasn’t enough today. In the same way that winning like this is the best feeling, it’s the worst to lose in this type of way. It’s pretty normal. “We just have to keep working hard, bounce back and get back to winning ways. I think the belief is there that we can (improve results). “This team has shown that many times. It’s never easy of course, but hard work and working on details and getting back to our best – we have that belief.” – Express Newspapers

Premier League and Bundesliga, Sesko explained – ahead of a showdown with Liverpool after the international break: “I would say it’s way quicker and you have less time in gen eral. “This is one of the biggest changes, I would say. Everyone is really physical and athletic, but I’m getting used to it. I’ll come to this level soon. “To play for a club like this, even train every day, is an obvious pleasure and I’m looking forward to being back (after the international break).” Sesko’s goal helped relieve some of the pressure on Ruben Amorim following a disappointing defeat to Brentford last weekend, helping United ascend into the top half of the Premier League table. United secured Sesko’s services for £66.4 million (RM385m) plus £7.3 million (RM42m) in add-ons from RB Leipzig. During his two-year tenure with Leipzig, Sesko netted 39 goals in 87 appearances. – Express Newspapers

Benjamin Sesko. – REUTERSPIC