Mohamed Salah recalls a conversation he had with Arsene Wenger, in his first season at Liverpool, in which Arsene answered the question, “What separates the good players from the really, really good players?” In Salah’s words, they “find the moment.”

Mohamed Salah, when asked if there have been many times in his career where he has had to switch himself back on, responding on Liverpool’s YouTube channel:

I think I got advice from Arsene Wenger before. He was at Melwood at that time, and I told him what’s the difference between—I think it was my first season in Liverpool—I asked him, “What’s the difference between a good player and a really, really good player?”

He said, “I think the very, very good player is always focused on the game. Even if he doesn’t have the momentum, he stays in the game until the last minute or until the whistle.”

That’s, I think, for me, I know there’s some games I don’t have the momentum; I don’t have the game, but I’m always focused on the game to finish stuff. I don’t mind that.

Even Johnny, Johnny [Heitinga] when he came here this year, was like, “Oh, Mo, you’re not playing good today.” I said, “Yeah, but I always find the moment.”

I’m not always very good in the game. It’s normal; we’re still human. But I’m always trying to find a way to change the game. I think some players don’t accept the feeling and just keep fighting it. But if you accept it and impress it, it’s nothing. It’s more your imagination going in your head, but I think if you accept it and just impress it, it’s OK. It’s OK to feel that way, and it’s OK to have a bad game, but the most important thing is to stay in the game and try to make a difference.

It is nice that he remembers that specific conversation from 2017, now, later in his career. 

That battle that happens in their mind where they have to accept that they are having a bad game or bad run of form is interesting to me. Maybe it happens on or off the field. That ability to forget the mistakes and focus on their goal is something anyone can apply to any profession. 

Can you be considered one of the best without having the ability to “always find the moment?” I don’t think you can be in the conversation if you can’t. The players at the top, that would be considered in those top five or top ten lists, they are all clutch.