'He has exactly three proper knocks on the foot' — Criticism of Mohamed Salah is unfair,...

[ASFN Admin]

Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, says he cannot understand the criticism levelled at Mohamed Salah after his role in the champions’ penalty against West Ham United on Saturday. Klopp said Salah received a ‘proper knock’ on his foot after being fouled by Arthur Masuaka prior to the Egyptian striking the equaliser from the spot in the 2-1 win. Subsequent analysis of the incident has focused on Salah going to ground too easily. Klopp naturally defended his player. “No. I don’t know what people need,” he said. “What can I say? It was a foul. Pretty much everyone who saw the situation thought it [was a foul]. Believe it or not, I spoke to Mo yesterday morning about how he feels. He has exactly three proper knocks on the foot. One of them is from the penalty situation. That’s how it is. There is a knock, you go down or not, whatever. Sometimes the refs give it.” Klopp suggested there is more discussion about penalties his team is awarded than those they are denied. “We don’t talk too long about all the penalties we don’t get, to be honest,” he said. “But obviously now two days after the game, we are talking about that. And there was clear contact. So what can I say? No. I don’t understand the criticism.” Liverpool travel to Bergamo this week seeking a third consecutive Champions League victory when they play Atalanta. Thiago Alcantara will not be on the flight as he continues to try to recover in time to face Manchester City this weekend. Klopp does have Naby Keïta and Joel Matip training with the squad again after their recent minor setbacks. Back at the top of the Premier League and seeking a win that would almost guarantee Champions League qualification after just three matchdays, Klopp expressed caution about Liverpool’s recent winning sequence. He can see the team is far from at its smoothest at the moment. “We have to be a little bit careful,” he said. “Around the Arsenal game, [people said] we were running away with the league. Then we got a proper knock. It’s now ‘be careful’ for us. We are fine. We know where we stand. “We found our feet, got other setbacks in the league, with injuries and that kind of thing. It is really early in the season. I think we are doing pretty well with being focused on the next game. And the next one, for sure, is so far the biggest challenge in the Champions League. Atalanta, with all they have done in the last three years, is a really settled team. They are very special in their approach, slightly similar to Leeds if I say it like this. It will be a tough one.”

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