"I’ve never seen him play this badly" - Former Liverpool midfielder blasts Mohamed Salah after 2-0 win over Everton

Former Liverpool midfielder Ray Houghton has slammed Mohamed Salah for his performance during the Reds' 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday, October 21. He believes that the forward was poor in the game and nowhere near the level needed in the derby.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Houghton claimed that it was the worst performance by the Egyptian in a long time. He added that the forward was trying to force things at time and not playing the simple passes. He said:

"He's had such a poor game Mo Salah, it's unbelievable. I never want to take off a player who can win you it but, I've got to be honest with you, what Mo has given Liverpool today, or what he's not given Liverpool, I've not seen him play this bad in a long, long time. He just looks so much off the pace of the game and his decision making has been poor. He's just forcing it at the moment and when you're having a bad time you do that, you try a difficult ball rather than a simple one."

Mohamed Salah ended up scoring both goals for the Reds against Everton. He scored the first goal from the spot in the 75th minute and added another in second-half stoppage time to seal the win.

Jurgen Klopp full of praise for Liverpool star Mohamed Salah

While Ray Houghton was not a fan of Mohamed Slaah's performance against Everton, Jurgen Klopp was delighted with his star forward. The Liverpool manager was full of praise for the goals, but admitted that it was not his best game.

Speaking to Liverpool's official website, Klopp claimed that they needed players who could pop up with the goals when needed even if they are having a bad game. He said:

"I think that Mo Salah played for us an incredible amount of fantastic games. Today was not his best game but then [still] being that clinical with the penalty and then staying in the situation, that's probably his biggest quality, and I love that. We need someone who can bring the ball over the line, and he was that again. I couldn't respect that fact more. It's absolutely outstanding, the numbers are crazy. He will never stop, that is his nature and that's really cool for us."

The Reds briefly went to the top of the table with the win, but were down to third at the end of the matches on Saturday (behind Manchester City and Arsenal). Tottenham play on Monday night and a point is enough for Spurs to jump ahead of Klopp's side.