Statistical Analysis: Salah’s Performance Pre and Post-AFCON

…and what can be done moving forward

Written on 01/05/2024, data taken from FBRef

Much has been written and talked about how Mohamed Salah behaved during and after the West Ham United game. We can unanimously agree that however unlucky he would have felt having been left out, there is no place for publicly spatting with the manager and then making it worse by saying unnecessary things in the media mixed zone. 

Now, to the important part, there is a reason why the Egyptian was dropped from the starting XI for that game. He hasn’t been close to his usual best since returning from the recurred hamstring injury. Against Everton, for example (three days before the West Ham game), the 31-year-old showed little to no sign of making things happen (although had Darwin Núñez finished one of the few chances he created, we may have a different conversation). 

I am not here to write an essay on what to do with Salah’s future [thousands of journalists are doing that already]. Reports say the club wants him to stay and oversee the first season under Arne Slot. How much of that will be true when the transfer window is open, remains to be seen.

What we can do here, as always, is to look at things through data. We will start by analysing his numbers before and after AFCON (subsequent hamstring injury).

Salah has played 525 league minutes since returning from AFCON and the first hamstring injury (1739 before). The contrasting state of numbers does not lie. Barring shot attempts, he has dropped off in every key metric. One can look at the passes and progressive passes received metric and say the team isn’t using him as much as they should (and there is a vital element to it that the system where Trent Alexander-Arnold moves into midfield isn’t helping), but the player of his ilk must be doing more to get into the game and make an impact.