Mo Salah – The redemption of the one season wonder.

If I said 12 months ago, Liverpool will be in the champions league final again I don’t think would have believed you. We walked of the pitch in Kiev with a goalkeeper with no hands, and one of our main center midfielders leaving for Juventus. We had a good core, but there is no way they come back from this. This is a young side I thought, but they are finished. Mentally, they are done. The way it unfolded in Kiev is enough to destroy any footballer. Who could blame them? Other great sport stars where finished after high profile defeats. Mike Tyson was never the same after Buster Douglas, Cincinnati Bengals before Joe Montana ended them, these kind of things can finish sport stars. Fast forward 12 months, our team has just hit 97 points and are back in the champions league final. As Jurgen Klopp said “these are fucking mentality giants” Jurgen Klopp probably sat there in the summer thinking “how do I pick this team up to go again?” What he probably didn’t bring into his thinking, is that this team was ready to go. This team wanted the season to start the week later. This team was out to prove it wasn’t a one season wonder. This team wanted redemption. This team is a freak of nature. You feel like this team needed another season to get over Kiev then maybe go again. I was happy with top 4 for this year. For this team to put in that kind of points tally is mind boggling. They didn’t lick there wounds and feel sorry for themselves, they dusted themselves down and got on with it. It’s phenomenal. They had a player who wouldn’t let them be down in the dumps, they had someone who seen something in this team to say we can be back here and by his force alone, this team where going there again. Mo Salah’s 1st major season in the champions league and he gets injured on the biggest stage. Those tears he shed where shared around the world, a nations hopes rested on his injured shoulder. People have great seasons. Morientes at Monaco in 2004, Michu at Swansea and Benni McCarthy at Porto. These lads had wonderful one seasons, but never hit that level again. Mo Salah had something to prove this year. He had to prove he wasn’t a one season wonder. He wanted redemption. This team is everything we wanted as fans. This team have proven to be one of the best sides in Europe. Mo Salah has proved that he belongs at this level. Mo also has something most other sports stars don’t have, a chance to rewrite the end. A bit like the Game of Thrones directors wish they could do. He has the chance to rewrite history on the biggest stage of them all. No one wanted to win this champions league more than him this season. The Premier League is what the fans wanted, the Champions League is what the players wanted. It’s time to change history and prove to every doubter around the world, last year wasn’t a fluke. This team is here to stay. Redemption is in front of them.