Mo Salah enjoys classy Liverpool farewell but moment with Arne Slot tells its own story

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No doubt there are some old-school, hard-bitten football followers who are not overly impressed by guards of honour.

Never mind guards of honour that are actually staged DURING a match.

But you would have to be a particularly cold fish to be disapproving of the sight of team-mates forming a tunnel of appreciation and celebration for Mohamed Salah as he left the pitch for the last time as a Liverpool player. It was a poignant, beautiful moment, followed by a tearful Salah kissing the Anfield turf goodbye.

It was then followed by the most cursory of hand-clasps with Arne Slot and a token, one-sided hug - but that is another story.

And you wait years and years for a mid-game guard of honour and then another comes along straight after it! The second one, of course, was for Andy Robertson. Those moments were just the precursor for the wonderful sign-offs that followed after the final whistle.

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Salah would have wanted to finish with a goal but had to make do with an assist and a very good individual performance.

It would probably be a touch harsh to suggest the search for a storybook farewell had Salah as motivated as he had looked all season. But only probably.

There was certainly plenty of vintage Salah, that is for sure. And amidst the emotion of the occasion, a significant footballing matter was evident.

Salah is leaving a year before his contract was due to expire. And does Salah have a year of Premier League effectiveness left in his legs? Absolutely he does. And probably then some.

He has not been at his best and most effective this season but he remains an elite talent. A club other than Liverpool its going to get the benefit of that talent.

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Although Milos Kerkez has belatedly looked up to the left-back job, the same is almost certainly true of Robertson. If these two club stalwarts initiated their departures, then there is no issue. But their absence next season will be keenly felt by Liverpool.

Salah was a constant threat to a Brentford side that struggled to get any sort of early foothold in the game.

How Keith Andrews’ side lasted for almost an hour without conceding was down to some poor Liverpool decision-making. But that has been the story of their season. But this contest was slightly unusual in that the main theme quickly became a case of whether or not Salah could sign off with something special.

And Salah duly obliged. He looked a fraction offside before providing a lovely assist for Curtis Jones but VAR got into the spirit of things and allowed the goal to stand.

It was the 120th assist of Salah’s 442-game Liverpool career. It was his 93rd assist for Liverpool in the Premier League, taking him to the top of that chart, ahead of Steven Gerrard.

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And it was one that actually shook Brentford into action. They did, after all, have something to play for and a win would have taken them into a European spot.

But after Kevin Schade’s headed equaliser, neither side could find a winner - Dango Outtara missed an added-time sitter - and the stage was left for Robertson and Salah - by now making no attempt to fight back the tears - to take the stadium’s acclaim for one final time.

It is fair to say they got the send-off their magnificent Liverpool careers demanded.

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