Why does Salah not win more free kicks in the Premier League?
“How can you not whistle for that foul? How on earth is it possible? I wish I could get an explanation.”
Jurgen Klopp apologised for his unacceptable behaviour on the touchline that earned him a red card against Manchester City, but remained incredulous about the decision from referee Anthony Taylor that triggered his rage.
Mohamed Salah’s run down the right wing had been cynically halted by Bernardo Silva grabbing his shirt and dragging him to the turf. Taylor dismissed appeals for a free kick as City countered in search of a late equaliser. Play was only ultimately stopped by Taylor to give Klopp his marching orders for his outburst at assistant Gary Beswick.
There had been a build up of frustration. Earlier in a bad-tempered contest, Klopp and his staff were incensed by Rodri’s challenge from behind on Salah going unpunished. On that occasion, a dangerous City attack ended with Erling Haaland heading over.
The Liverpool manager has long since felt that the Egyptian isn’t given sufficient protection by Premier League officials. “It is absolutely crazy how low the number of fouls is against him. I cannot explain it,” he said in March.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp’s behaviour which got him a red card (Photo: Laurence Griffiths via Getty Images)
Klopp has a point. The numbers are striking. Salah has been awarded just six free kicks in 879 minutes of top-flight action so far this season — one every 147 minutes.
Data from FBref.com shows that 130 Premier League players have been fouled more often. That’s despite Salah having more touches in the opposition box (92) than any player other than Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus (93). Salah is sixth on the list when it comes to touches in the attacking third (298).
When it comes to the most fouled player in the Premier League so far this season, Leicester City’s James Maddison (33) comes top of the list, followed by Jesus (31), Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (31), Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson (26) and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (26).
In terms of other attacking players similar in style to Salah, Arsenal’s Buyako Saka has been fouled 19 times, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min 15, City’s Jack Grealish 13 and Raheem Sterling 11. Grealish has been given more than double the number of free kicks Salah has had, despite playing just 318 top-flight minutes.
It’s nothing new. Last season, the player to win the most free kicks in the Premier League was Zaha (124), followed by Aston Villa’s John McGinn (98), Brentford’s Ivan Toney (84), Richarlison (83) then of Everton, and Maddison (80).
Where was Salah? Joint 93rd on the list with 30 during a season when he played 2,762 minutes, scored 23 league goals, contributed 13 assists and was crowned PFA and Football Writers’ Association player of the year. He had more touches in the opposition box (333) than any other top-flight player in 2021-22, while only team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold and City’s Joao Cancelo bettered his tally of 1,100 touches in the attacking third. Yet, strangely, he earned a free kick just once every 92 minutes.
Go back further and it’s a similar story. The most fouled player in 2020-21 was Grealish (123), followed by Wolves’ Adama Traore (104), Zaha (98), McGinn (94) and Sadio Mane (84). Salah was joint 102nd on 32. Having played 3,082 minutes, that’s a free-kick every 96 minutes.
When Liverpool last won the title in 2019-20, Salah played 2,888 minutes and referees blew for fouls on him just 24 times, once every 120 minutes. That put him joint 132nd on a list topped by Grealish (180), Zaha (147), Palace’s Jordan Ayew (112), Traore (101) and Maddison (98).
The burning question is why there is such a glaring disparity given the fact that Klopp’s team frequently dominate possession and Salah so often leads the way by running at defenders?
“Honestly, you have to ask the refs. I don’t know because we constantly think he gets fouled,” Klopp argued in March. (He hasn’t changed his opinion since.) “You must ask the other people how that’s possible, that the guy who’s constantly with the ball in and around the box and there’s no foul. There are situations where he goes down and there’s a challenge, so it’s not that he just avoids these situations. No, it’s actually the opposite.”
Salah has regularly been accused of diving by opponents and pundits alike since he arrived at Anfield from Roma in 2017.
Certainly there have been occasions when he’s been guilty of exaggerating contact and going to ground easily, but Klopp would point to many other instances where he’s stayed on his feet despite being clearly fouled, yet decisions do not go in his favour. For Salah, there’s been a sense of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Does a reputation that Liverpool deem to be unfair make officials more reluctant to award free kicks in his favour? Referees aren’t immune to the noise around them.
In November 2020, West Ham boss David Moyes claimed Salah “threw himself to the ground” to win a penalty after a challenge from Arthur Masuaku. The previous year, Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock compared him to Olympic diver Tom Daley. Before that, Arsenal defender Sokratis angrily accused him of simulation to earn a spot kick at Anfield. Others joined the chorus too.
Arthur Masuaku, Mohamed Salah
West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku wonders what the fuss is about (Photo: Jon Super/PA Images via Getty Images)
Team-mates have regularly leapt to his defence and believe he’s an easy target who opponents point an accusing finger at to deflect attention from their own failings.
The reality is that in 269 appearances for Liverpool, Salah has collected just six yellow cards and only one was for diving. That was away to Chelsea in May 2018 when Taylor, last Sunday’s referee, was also in charge. Half of Salah’s bookings have been for taking his shirt off during goal celebrations with the other two for fouls.
Salah won free kicks more regularly during his first two seasons on Merseyside. In 2017-18, he was joint 44th on the list of most fouled Premier League players on 40. Having played 2,921 minutes, that was a free kick every 73 minutes. Dele Alli (103) was top, followed by Ayew (102), Richarlison (102), Eden Hazard (100) and Zaha (89).
In 2018-19, Salah was joint 53rd on 41 in a list led by Hazard (130), Zaha (125), Paul Pogba (93), Maddison (90) and Lucas Torreira (86). With 3,243 minutes under his belt, that represented a foul on Salah every 79 minutes.
That was also the season Salah earned five penalties and criticism of him was arguably at its height. He’s only won the same number of spot kicks in the three and a half years since.
One simple method of exploring the volume of fouls that Salah receives is to plot his “minutes per foul suffered” — an analysis that was used by Paul Tomkins of the Tomkins Times website last season. The higher the minutes, the longer a player goes without being fouled — or rather the referee blowing for a foul. This can be plotted against a player’s touches per 90 to account for their involvement within the game.
When looking at wide forwards in the Premier League since the start of last season (with 1,000-plus minutes played), you can see that Salah’s volume of touches are about average for his position. When looking at his minutes per foul suffered, Salah receives a foul once every 130 minutes on average — approximately one and a half games between being awarded a free kick. In that time, only West Ham’s Said Benrahma (153 minutes) and Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho (214 minutes) have gone longer between being awarded a free kick or penalty.
Of course, this metric alone does not necessarily highlight that Salah has been hard done by in the fouls he hasn’t received, but it does underline that referees have blown more frequently for his positional peers since the start of last season.
The decisions that went against Salah against City last weekend are difficult to explain. In the build up to the first one, Salah intercepted a pass from Ilkay Gundogan and cleverly got his body between Rodri and the ball.
The Spaniard went through the back of Salah and sent him sprawling. Taylor, who had the perfect view, waved play on.
The referee did likewise with five minutes to go when Bernardo, tracking back, got hold of Salah’s shirt and pulled him down. Understandably, the Egyptian was incensed as Taylor gestured for him to get up.
Mohamed Salah
(Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Away from domestic duties, Salah has found that more decisions tend to go in his favour. During last season’s Africa Cup of Nations, he was awarded 24 free kicks across Egypt’s seven matches, one every 31 minutes of action.
In the Champions League since the start of last season, he’s been fouled 18 times, once every 70 minutes of football. When Liverpool won Europe’s showpiece club competition in 2018-19 he was fouled 17 times along the way — a free kick every 62 minutes.
Yet in the Premier League it’s a different story. Salah has been fouled a total of 173 times in 190 matches for Liverpool over the past five and a half years in the top flight — fewer than Grealish’s tally in 2019-20 alone.
The numbers just don’t add up.
(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
“How can you not whistle for that foul? How on earth is it possible? I wish I could get an explanation.”
Jurgen Klopp apologised for his unacceptable behaviour on the touchline that earned him a red card against Manchester City, but remained incredulous about the decision from referee Anthony Taylor that triggered his rage.
Mohamed Salah’s run down the right wing had been cynically halted by Bernardo Silva grabbing his shirt and dragging him to the turf. Taylor dismissed appeals for a free kick as City countered in search of a late equaliser. Play was only ultimately stopped by Taylor to give Klopp his marching orders for his outburst at assistant Gary Beswick.
There had been a build up of frustration. Earlier in a bad-tempered contest, Klopp and his staff were incensed by Rodri’s challenge from behind on Salah going unpunished. On that occasion, a dangerous City attack ended with Erling Haaland heading over.
The Liverpool manager has long since felt that the Egyptian isn’t given sufficient protection by Premier League officials. “It is absolutely crazy how low the number of fouls is against him. I cannot explain it,” he said in March.
Jurgen Klopp
Klopp’s behaviour which got him a red card (Photo: Laurence Griffiths via Getty Images)
Klopp has a point. The numbers are striking. Salah has been awarded just six free kicks in 879 minutes of top-flight action so far this season — one every 147 minutes.
Data from FBref.com shows that 130 Premier League players have been fouled more often. That’s despite Salah having more touches in the opposition box (92) than any player other than Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus (93). Salah is sixth on the list when it comes to touches in the attacking third (298).
When it comes to the most fouled player in the Premier League so far this season, Leicester City’s James Maddison (33) comes top of the list, followed by Jesus (31), Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha (31), Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson (26) and Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze (26).
In terms of other attacking players similar in style to Salah, Arsenal’s Buyako Saka has been fouled 19 times, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min 15, City’s Jack Grealish 13 and Raheem Sterling 11. Grealish has been given more than double the number of free kicks Salah has had, despite playing just 318 top-flight minutes.
It’s nothing new. Last season, the player to win the most free kicks in the Premier League was Zaha (124), followed by Aston Villa’s John McGinn (98), Brentford’s Ivan Toney (84), Richarlison (83) then of Everton, and Maddison (80).
Where was Salah? Joint 93rd on the list with 30 during a season when he played 2,762 minutes, scored 23 league goals, contributed 13 assists and was crowned PFA and Football Writers’ Association player of the year. He had more touches in the opposition box (333) than any other top-flight player in 2021-22, while only team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold and City’s Joao Cancelo bettered his tally of 1,100 touches in the attacking third. Yet, strangely, he earned a free kick just once every 92 minutes.
Go back further and it’s a similar story. The most fouled player in 2020-21 was Grealish (123), followed by Wolves’ Adama Traore (104), Zaha (98), McGinn (94) and Sadio Mane (84). Salah was joint 102nd on 32. Having played 3,082 minutes, that’s a free-kick every 96 minutes.
When Liverpool last won the title in 2019-20, Salah played 2,888 minutes and referees blew for fouls on him just 24 times, once every 120 minutes. That put him joint 132nd on a list topped by Grealish (180), Zaha (147), Palace’s Jordan Ayew (112), Traore (101) and Maddison (98).
The burning question is why there is such a glaring disparity given the fact that Klopp’s team frequently dominate possession and Salah so often leads the way by running at defenders?
“Honestly, you have to ask the refs. I don’t know because we constantly think he gets fouled,” Klopp argued in March. (He hasn’t changed his opinion since.) “You must ask the other people how that’s possible, that the guy who’s constantly with the ball in and around the box and there’s no foul. There are situations where he goes down and there’s a challenge, so it’s not that he just avoids these situations. No, it’s actually the opposite.”
Salah has regularly been accused of diving by opponents and pundits alike since he arrived at Anfield from Roma in 2017.
Certainly there have been occasions when he’s been guilty of exaggerating contact and going to ground easily, but Klopp would point to many other instances where he’s stayed on his feet despite being clearly fouled, yet decisions do not go in his favour. For Salah, there’s been a sense of damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Does a reputation that Liverpool deem to be unfair make officials more reluctant to award free kicks in his favour? Referees aren’t immune to the noise around them.
In November 2020, West Ham boss David Moyes claimed Salah “threw himself to the ground” to win a penalty after a challenge from Arthur Masuaku. The previous year, Cardiff City boss Neil Warnock compared him to Olympic diver Tom Daley. Before that, Arsenal defender Sokratis angrily accused him of simulation to earn a spot kick at Anfield. Others joined the chorus too.
Arthur Masuaku, Mohamed Salah
West Ham’s Arthur Masuaku wonders what the fuss is about (Photo: Jon Super/PA Images via Getty Images)
Team-mates have regularly leapt to his defence and believe he’s an easy target who opponents point an accusing finger at to deflect attention from their own failings.
The reality is that in 269 appearances for Liverpool, Salah has collected just six yellow cards and only one was for diving. That was away to Chelsea in May 2018 when Taylor, last Sunday’s referee, was also in charge. Half of Salah’s bookings have been for taking his shirt off during goal celebrations with the other two for fouls.
Salah won free kicks more regularly during his first two seasons on Merseyside. In 2017-18, he was joint 44th on the list of most fouled Premier League players on 40. Having played 2,921 minutes, that was a free kick every 73 minutes. Dele Alli (103) was top, followed by Ayew (102), Richarlison (102), Eden Hazard (100) and Zaha (89).
In 2018-19, Salah was joint 53rd on 41 in a list led by Hazard (130), Zaha (125), Paul Pogba (93), Maddison (90) and Lucas Torreira (86). With 3,243 minutes under his belt, that represented a foul on Salah every 79 minutes.
That was also the season Salah earned five penalties and criticism of him was arguably at its height. He’s only won the same number of spot kicks in the three and a half years since.
One simple method of exploring the volume of fouls that Salah receives is to plot his “minutes per foul suffered” — an analysis that was used by Paul Tomkins of the Tomkins Times website last season. The higher the minutes, the longer a player goes without being fouled — or rather the referee blowing for a foul. This can be plotted against a player’s touches per 90 to account for their involvement within the game.
When looking at wide forwards in the Premier League since the start of last season (with 1,000-plus minutes played), you can see that Salah’s volume of touches are about average for his position. When looking at his minutes per foul suffered, Salah receives a foul once every 130 minutes on average — approximately one and a half games between being awarded a free kick. In that time, only West Ham’s Said Benrahma (153 minutes) and Manchester United’s Jadon Sancho (214 minutes) have gone longer between being awarded a free kick or penalty.
Of course, this metric alone does not necessarily highlight that Salah has been hard done by in the fouls he hasn’t received, but it does underline that referees have blown more frequently for his positional peers since the start of last season.
The decisions that went against Salah against City last weekend are difficult to explain. In the build up to the first one, Salah intercepted a pass from Ilkay Gundogan and cleverly got his body between Rodri and the ball.
The Spaniard went through the back of Salah and sent him sprawling. Taylor, who had the perfect view, waved play on.
The referee did likewise with five minutes to go when Bernardo, tracking back, got hold of Salah’s shirt and pulled him down. Understandably, the Egyptian was incensed as Taylor gestured for him to get up.
Mohamed Salah
(Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
Away from domestic duties, Salah has found that more decisions tend to go in his favour. During last season’s Africa Cup of Nations, he was awarded 24 free kicks across Egypt’s seven matches, one every 31 minutes of action.
In the Champions League since the start of last season, he’s been fouled 18 times, once every 70 minutes of football. When Liverpool won Europe’s showpiece club competition in 2018-19 he was fouled 17 times along the way — a free kick every 62 minutes.
Yet in the Premier League it’s a different story. Salah has been fouled a total of 173 times in 190 matches for Liverpool over the past five and a half years in the top flight — fewer than Grealish’s tally in 2019-20 alone.
The numbers just don’t add up.
(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
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