James Milner explains Mohamed Salah’s elite mentality and unusual home recovery routine

James Milner says Mohamed Salah’s relentless desire to improve is what places the Liverpool forward among football’s elite alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

Milner played with Salah at Liverpool from 2017 to 2023, with the pair winning seven trophies together. Speaking on a podcast with former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, Milner described the attitude that made the Egypt international stand out inside the Liverpool dressing room.

His comments were published by the Liverpool news account on X.

“He was humble enough to ask questions, seek opinions and form his own conclusions,” Milner said when discussing Salah’s approach to improving his game.

Milner explained that Salah was constantly looking for ways to gain an advantage, rather than relying solely on his natural ability or existing level of performance.

“He was always researching what could give him an edge, whether that was in terms of physical recovery, fitness, or even spending time in the gym practising penalties,” the former England international said.

According to Milner, Salah’s willingness to keep learning was particularly noticeable because he never behaved as though he already had all the answers.

“We had a lot of discussions about it,” he said. “I think that is what sets an elite player apart. He did not have the arrogance of someone who thought he knew everything; instead, he wanted to gather as much information as possible.”

Milner also provided an insight into how Salah applied ideas he discovered through reading and observing the methods used by other players.

“He would see and read about techniques that other people used, and very quickly you would find him putting an exercise bike in his home swimming pool so he could use it for recovery exercises and things like that,” Milner said.

“He was obsessed with becoming better.”

The account of Salah’s routine formed part of Milner’s wider explanation of why he considers his former team-mate to be among the game’s top-level players. In Milner’s view, Salah’s humility, curiosity and commitment to detailed preparation were central to his development.

Rather than treating recovery and fitness as matters limited to team training, Salah sought information and experimented with ways to improve those areas himself. Milner said that included work away from the pitch, sessions in the gym and the use of equipment at home.

The former Liverpool midfielder’s comments offer an account of the Egyptian forward’s professionalism from a team-mate who shared the dressing room with him for six seasons. Milner’s comparison with Ronaldo was based on the mentality and habits he believes characterise elite players.