Review - 2nd POTM Salah

Mohammed Salah is continuing his sensational form for Liverpool this year earning himself his second Player of the Month card. He is winning the hearts of Premier League fans and FIFA fans alike, as we near the end of the 2017/18 season he is a valid contender for the Player of the Year, also some can argue he single handedly carried Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990. At the moment (knock on wood), Mohammed can do no wrong, but should you complete the expensive SBC required to get your hands on the Egyptian Messi?

To get a feel for his new card I completed the loan SBC to receive his card for 20 games. I wanted to be able to give a proper review so I competed a Division 1 run from scratch, I used him in the right-wing position in the 4-3-3(4) formation. I applied the “Marksman” chemistry style to him, you can give him the Hawk or Hunter chemistry style but I feel that they would be poorly utilized considering he already has 98 Pace. He was used in the following team:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

At first glance the stat that sticks out the most is his blistering Pace; 97 Acceleration and 97 Sprint Speed should allow him to breeze by almost every wing back in the game. 99 Attacking Position and 99 Finishing means he will get into dangerous positions and he will finish his chances. His dribbling seems comparable to the likes of Neymar and Messi with very good Agility, Balance, and Ball Control.

After seeing these stats, I was very excited to see how they would translate onto the pitch, below I am going to give my review on each of the six major attributes on a scale from 1-5:

PACE

As the saying goes, numbers don’t lie. His 98 Pace allowed me to easily breeze through the midfield and past the fastest wing backs in the game. This allowed me to easily get the ball into my opponents final third to set up my attack, his Pace is by far his most valuable attribute.

Rating: 5/5

SHOOTING

Being a winger, it was important that Mohammed would be clinical in front of goal. With his astounding 99 Finishing and 89 Shot Power he was able to put away a majority of the chances he was given, using either a low driven shot with his left foot or a finesse shot from outside the box with his left almost always granted a goal. His 99 Attacking Position truly stand out as well, his runs were phenomenal, there were a few goals that solely came down to Mohammed for making a clever run in behind the defense. The only downside with his shooting is his 2-star weak foot. I tried to stray away from using his right foot but whenever I had to the shots did not have enough power or they were inaccurate. As long as you can keep the shots on the left foot you will be rewarded.

Rating: 4/5

PASSING

I’m not asking my wingers or forwards to make Luka Modric or Kevin De Bruyne defense-splitting caliber passes, the only passing I did with Mohammed was moving the ball around in the final third or sending a sitter across the box for my striker to slot in the net. He excelled with this type of passing, his 87 Crossing and 95 Short Passing helped make my attack more fluid and up-tempo. If you choose to play him in more a midfield role his passing flaws may show up, but for me he did what had to be done.

Rating: 4/5

DRIBBLING

Mohammed’s dribbling is on an entirely new level, his combination of 95 Agility, 92 Balance, and 96 Ball Control allow him to dribble in the tightest of areas and maneuver around some the best defenders in the game such as Rio Ferdinand, Jerome Boateng, and Eric Bailly. After I completed my Division 1 run I had 10 games left with him, his performance during those 10 games gained him my trust and I used him as a half-time sub for my remaining Weekend League games. This is when I realized that not only is Mohammed Salah’s second POTM card good, he can hold his own against the best teams in the most competitive environment.

Rating: 5/5

DEFENDING

There isn’t much to say in this category, Mohammed has no defending duties being a winger. But with his Medium Work Rates he would occasionally come back and apply pressure to midfielders possessing the ball and win a rare tackle to gain possession back. This takes me back in saying I don’t think he would be a suitable midfielder if you are thinking about playing him there.

Rating: 2.5/5

PHYSICALITY

This is a tough attribute to form a solid opinion on, there were times where Mohammed would hold off strong center backs but other times smaller wing backs would muscle the ball off of him. 75 Strength seems quite high for a winger but because of his small frame the stat doesn’t seem justified. He also has 95 Stamina so you will not have to worry about him getting tired if you end up going into extra time. In the beginning of the review I said you could give him a Hawk or Hunter chemistry style but I think Mohammed benefits the most if you give him a Finisher or Marksman chemistry style. This gives him that much needed physical boost.

Rating: 3.5/5

FINAL SCORE

Rating: 4.3/5

Mohammed’s combination of Pace and Dribbling made him one of the deadliest attackers I used this year. His left foot is comparable to the likes of Messi and Robben, if you get a shot off with his left it is destined for the back of the net. If you have a counter attacking style, this card is a must own for your team. But this card is exclusive to those that complete the SBC, that takes us to the question how expensive is the SBC? The current cost to complete his SBC is almost 700k coins, half of that cost comes from the first step which requires you to exchange one of his many special cards. If you have his first POTM or one of his three inform cards (one of those being a Hero Card) you might want to consider completing this SBC. One more factor to take into consideration is how many more special cards he will receive? It’s almost a guarantee he will be included in the Premier League TOTS, last year the Premier League TOTS arrived on May 19th. If you don’t have the patience to wait 2 more grueling months then I would highly advise you to get this card!

Game Stats:

Game Highlights: