Mohamed Salah has vowed to keep ignoring the moans – and believes Diogo Jota is making life easier on Liverpool’s celebrated front three.
Salah is expected to contend for Atalanta’s Champions League visit on Wednesday after missing out on the weekend win over Leicester City after a positive test for the coronavirus.
The Egyptian hopes to continue his goalscoring form after 10 goals in 13 games – his best start to a season with Liverpool.
Eight came into the Premier League with Salah in the early race for the Golden Boot he won in 2018 and shared 12 months later.
And when asked about his hopes for a personal hat-trick, the Reds attackers had a message for his critics.
“I think it’s hard to do it the first time, but it’s harder to do it the second time and even harder to do it the third time,” said Salah.
“Some people will always complain. They will say ‘he’s good at that, but he’s not good at that part’.
“You just have to go ahead and do your things and I’m very proud to do that.
“Goals, assists … I feel good about it and although it is a bit more difficult, it is our job and we have to go out and perform.
“It was important to win those individual prizes, but I always say that the Premier League, Champions League and team trophies come first.
“The ambition for me is to win both. We only won the Champions League and the Premier League last season. My ambition is to win both (in the same season).”
In the absence of Salah, Diogo Jota played on the right wing against Leicester and scored the second goal for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The Portuguese has now netted eight times in 12 games since his first £ 41 million move from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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And Salah believes the new boy has already helped lighten the burden on himself and hit partners Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
“We are happy for him,” he said. “As teammates, we try to push each other every day during practice, so to see someone come in and score goals, you feel happy for him too because you think he’s going to help your team and make it easier for us.
“Hopefully that will happen again and again. Scoring a few goals is a good way for him to perhaps start with confidence.
“Having someone else who can score goals is a great option for us. Now with Diogo we can play four together or we can still play three.”
Liverpool’s win put them on a par with early Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur, with just seven points ahead of the top 12.
Games are still being played behind closed doors, although the Reds could welcome up to 4,000 fans to Anfield from next month under new government proposals.
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And to Liverpool’s official match schedule, Salah said: “This season has been insane. The number of goals I never expected and playing without fans is of course crazy.
“I think the fans make a huge difference, you know. The fans give games a different atmosphere and give you a different motivation, so I can say this is the main reason for some crazy results.
“There is also some pressure for us because Virgil (van Dijk) has played every game in recent years, but now he is injured. In the meantime other players have to perform. I think the young players have done well.”
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