Page 1 of 1

Liverpool's reliance on Sadio Mane shows weakness

PostPosted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:15 pm
by Reg
Why Liverpool's reliance on world-class Sadio Mane shows squad lacks attacking strength
JAMIE CARRAGHER
23 AUGUST 2019 •

You could make a strong case obviously for Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk or Alisson following the incremental improvement that has coincided with each of their arrivals, but I still maintain that the correct answer to this particular question is Sadio Mane.

He was the first of the really big signings under Klopp and it was his influence above all others during that first full season for the manager in 2016-17, when he was the club’s joint top-scorer in the Premier League, that ensured Liverpool got back into the Champions League.

That was a huge catalyst when you then look at the development of this team and, without taking that first massive step forward, you would have to question whether Liverpool would then have had the resources or such immediate pulling power to attract the players who followed.

At £32 million, Mane was also an absolute steal and the shrewdest piece of transfer work by Liverpool in all their dealings with Southampton. Mane actually came in relatively early and quietly during a summer transfer window in 2016 that then spiralled through July and August to the extent that Manchester United ultimately paid almost £90 million to recruit Paul Pogba.

It is not simply the timing of Mane’s arrival or value for money, though, that makes him so important.
It has been the consistency of performances, especially in the last 12 months that, to my mind, means he genuinely now merits the world class description.

So how do you define ‘world class’? I judge it by thinking about a fantasy world starting XI and whether any given player would either get straight into the team or at least be in the best two or three in the world in their position. As left-sided attackers I would rate Mane, Raheem Sterling and Eden Hazard as currently the best, especially now that Ronaldo has become more of a striker and the struggles of Neymar since the World Cup.

I also think that Mane is Liverpool’s first genuinely world class winger since John Barnes and the club’s best wide left player for almost 30 years.

That in itself is a big explanation for why Liverpool have never quite taken that final step in the Premier League. Look at the teams who win the title, and they invariably have players who can really cause damage from the wide areas and are capable of 20 goals a season. I played with world class players in almost every position at Liverpool, but never real world class specialists in either the wide left or right areas.

That is not to diminish those who operated in those positions but it was often not even their preferred role. It was a relative weakness in our team and I think the difference when we finished second to Manchester United in 2008-09. United, by contrast, had the options of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs.

Yet having watched Mane over these last three seasons, I believe that he would have pushed us that extra step if he had been in that team of Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres. We lost only two games that season - two fewer than United - but just could not get enough wins.

Mane’s recent statistics underline his influence. Take out the penalties, and he was actually the Premier League’s top goalscorer last season by a clear margin with 22: three ahead of Salah and Sergio Aguero and four clear of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He is also out on his own so far in this calendar year with 15 goals, and that’s even if you include Aubameyang and Aguero’s penalties.

The recent goals against Chelsea in the Uefa Super Cup and then Southampton three days later were spectacular but, as you so often notice with the best players, they also came at important moments of the match. The quality of the strikes seemed to go under the radar as the headlines after both games were about the good and bad of the Liverpool goalkeeping understudy Adrian.

What I also most love about Mane is his complete absence of ego and how he always puts the team first. That was really noticeable to me in how he reacted to the arrival of Salah in 2017, when he had already been at the club for a year.

Salah was suddenly the most exciting forward in the Premier League, scoring 44 goals in his first season, but there was never even the slightest sense that Mane was put out. He even moved position to accommodate Salah and allow him to be the main goal threat. With Roberto Firmino also becoming so fundamental to Klopp’s system of pressing from the front, I feel like Mane’s contribution is not as widely appreciated as it should be. Which brings me to the concern that I now have. Mane has become so important that Klopp is understandably reluctant to leave him out and let him have a proper rest.

Mane is very much a team player - something he showed in willingly moving positions to accommodate Mohamed Salah CREDIT: REUTERS
He has played in 53 club games since the start of the 2018-19 season. Of all the forwards throughout the entire Premier League, only Salah has played more than his 4,515 minutes. Firmino is also in the top seven for minutes played and all three of Liverpool’s forwards have featured in 52 or more club games since the start of last season. The only Manchester City forward to have done that is Sterling but what this still does not take into account is the international demands this summer on Salah, Firmino and particularly Mane.

Liverpool’s season did not finish until June and he was then away with Senegal in the African Cup of Nations, playing seven matches. The last was the final on July 19 against Algeria and yet he was still involved in the first match of the Premier League season three weeks later against Norwich City. It was similar the summer before when he played in the World Cup and was then away with Liverpool in America in the International Champions Cup. In an ideal world, Mane would have been rested this season until after the first international break and not started until September.

Klopp said after Saturday’s win against Southampton that no footballer should play more than 50 matches a season, especially in what he called the “intense positions”, and he has the resources in midfield to address this concern. His use of Mane, however, unfortunately already suggests that Liverpool’s squad is not strong enough in the attacking positions.

Mane himself has said that tiredness is only mental and that he has never had a holiday that lasts longer than 20 days since joining Red Bull Salzburg in 2012. I truly hope he is right but you cannot keep defying your body and my big worry is that there will be a drop off without a carefully scheduled rest. How Liverpool absorb either scenario could very well decide whether another Premier League challenge can be sustained.

Re: Liverpool's reliance on Sadio Mane shows weakness

PostPosted: Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:53 am
by 7_Kewell
Every year I read articles like this, which focuses on one of our key players. Last year it was Salah, this year it is Mane...next year it'll be Bobby or VVD. 

Take any of our key players out and we're weaker. It's no secret.