Van Dijk: No one should take the consistency of Salah for granted 

Virgil Van Dijk believes that the achievements of Mo Salah should never be taken for granted.

The Egyptian ticked off yet another record in Sunday’s 7-0 thumping of Manchester United when he became Liverpool’s top scorer in the Premier League era  with his 129th goal for the club, going past Robbie Fowler in the process.

It is not too far a stretch to say that Salah is the most humblest of superstars currently in World Football.

You could write a book detailing all the records he has set and individual honours he has won but listening to him speak, there is little doubt that nothing pleases him more than team success.

There has been the accusation in his career that he is ‘goal hungry’ or not looking for teammates in better positions.

A top tier striker would contradict that view by saying that their job is to put the ball in the back of the net, just as a elite central defender’s role is to stop them doing so.

But the whole media narrative about “selfish Salah” is blown out the water by cold hard facts. 

In his outstanding first season for the club, a lot was rightly made of his 32 goals in the league, but he also contributed 10 assists.

Last season he broke his personal record where he registered 13 assists and this season while his goal output has been a little down on previous seasons he still has seven assists to his name, with plenty of games left to get into double figures.

One thing is for certain, his teammates hold him in the highest regard as Van Dijk stated.

"Mo showed why he is so important for this football club. He’s so influential with everything that’s been going on in a positive way over the years and hopefully he can keep that going.

“For him to be the all-time Premier League top scorer for Liverpool is something no-one should take for granted. He definitely shouldn’t and I won’t. He should not just brush it off because it’s something special.”