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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay

Hard-nosed Liverpool hold firm on Salah but must wonder if it makes sense

Which non-ruinous new signing could effectively replace Mo Salah in the form he is in?
Which non-ruinous new signing could effectively replace Mo Salah in the form he is in? Illustration: Gary Neill/The Guardian

There are certain fixed rules in scriptwriting. These are laid down by the kind of guru-led Californian movie masterclasses designed to help frat boys and slackers produce endless identical pitches, usually starring a troubled Nicolas Cage reuniting his family by machine-gunning central European men on yachts.

Introduce conflict. Make your chief protagonist complex but also likable, perhaps by having them wear a hat or sunglasses. Have a climax where your two main characters climb a tall structure to stage a dramatic shootout, thereby symbolising moral jeopardy, and also the climbing of tall structures. Above all remember that every successful Hollywood movie can basically be summarised with the phrase “Daddy, I love you”, from Casablanca to Star Wars to Top Gun.

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