He´s one of the best in the world – Klopp and Howe united in appreciation for Salah

Jurgen Klopp and his Bournemouth counterpart Eddie Howe were united in their assessment of Mohamed Salah being “one of the best in the world” after his hat-trick inspired Liverpool’s 4-0 win on Saturday.

Salah was the pick of the bunch against the Cherries at the Vitality Stadium, with the home side having little answer to his movement in attack.

Although he was fortunate with his first, as he appeared to be just offside, the other two were fine examples of Salah at his brilliant best.

There rarely looked to be any doubt about the result once Salah put Liverpool ahead, and Howe acknowledge his team were on the receiving end of a masterclass.

“Salah looked good, didn’t he,” Howe said in his post-match news conference. “He looked razor sharp and we struggled to handle him. He’s one of the best in the world.”

Klopp concurred, and also reserved special praise for Howe, as the Reds momentarily moved to the Premier League summit.

WE’RE NEVER GONNA STOP… #BOULIV https://t.co/X9xB3RCYhL

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 8, 2018

The German said to reporters: “I think Eddie Howe is one of the best managers I ever met to be honest, so how could I say something different?

“You never see a perfect game, but this result against Bournemouth is massive. It was really good. We controlled the game, we didn’t change the rhythm, we adapted and all the little runs we did came together to open gaps to get our first goal.

“At half-time I said we have to do better and we can do better, especially with the counter-press and not losing the ball.

“Whatever you do in a football game you have to finish off, and what Mo did was exceptional.

“The second goal was a foul [on Salah by Steve Cook], but Salah wants to score goals and it wasn’t an impressive finish, but it was good. The third was incredible.

“You shouldn’t be surprised about Salah’s desire [to score goals], that’s great for us and it’s just brilliant what he did [not going down after Cook’s challenge]. I like that mindset.”