Garth Crooks has aired his surprise at Mohamed Salah taking home the Football of the 12 months award last week by claiming that his Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk must have won the honour as a substitute.
Salah garnered 48 per cent of the vote ahead of Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne and West Ham’s Declan Rice, who got here second and third respectively. It was well-deserved for the Egyptian, who stays top scorer within the Premier League and has 44 goals involvements in 45 games for the Reds this season.
Not many individuals baulked at the choice provided that Salah has played an enormous part in firing Liverpool to a possible quadruple. But Crooks believes the vote must have been awarded to his team-mate Van Dijk – with the BBC pundit claiming that he’s ‘the very best defender on the earth’.
“It’s infrequently I disagree with the alternative of the esteemed Football Writers’ Association but I used to be somewhat greatly surprised by their decision to award Mohamed Salah this 12 months’s honour of Footballer of the 12 months,” Crooks told the BBC. “The Liverpool striker is a superstar – of that there is no such thing as a doubt – and he has had a powerful goal scoring season.
“Nevertheless, Liverpool’s best player and, in my opinion, the Reds’ player of the season, is Virgil van Dijk. He must have won the award. Regular readers won’t be surprised by my alternative because the Liverpool defender features in my team almost on a weekly basis.
“That is because Van Dijk is definitely the very best defender on the earth but he doesn’t attract the identical attention as Salah since it’s the Egyptian who scores the goals. I appreciate goal scorers higher than anyone – my team of the week is usually stuffed with them. Nevertheless this 12 months the Football Writers’ Association has gone for the favored vote but not the appropriate one.
“Salah could be very able to winning the Champions League title for Liverpool but he’ll need Van Dijk to be within the team.” The Reds face Villarreal on Tuesday evening as they give the impression of being to succeed in their third Champions League final in only five years.
